Here in Massachusetts, we have a holiday called Patriot's Day that always falls on the third Monday of April. The holiday is only observed by three states in the entire country. It commemorates the Battle of Lexington and Concord in 1775 but is more famously known as "Marathon Monday" because it's also always the day of the Boston Marathon!
The city is covered with signs like these all along the marathon route, and people will be cheering along the entire 26.2 mile course. It's a happy, joyous day in Boston that has been made even more poignant because of the terrorist attack that happened back in 2013.
That was a very scary day - one of the scariest of my life. My husband actually heard the bombs go off and saw people screaming and running away. Then we couldn't leave our apartment for almost a whole day, as the entire city was on lock-down! I was almost two months pregnant, feeling terrible because of morning sickness, and insanely freaked out about what kind of world my baby would be born into.
Since that horrible day, the city, the runners, and the spectators have made it their mission more than ever to return the marathon to a commemoration of the human spirit's ability to triumph over adversity and a celebration of community and I think they have succeeded!
