There are overpowering narratives all over Boston these days, a year after a hateful act of homemade terrorism shattered the soul of one of the great sporting days of the year, killing three and injuring more than 260, and claiming a fourth fatality two days later, when MIT security guard Sean Collier was allegedly killed by the bombers, reports The New York Daily News.
Most of the stories are about heroism and heartache. Some are about unfathomable strength and equal helpings of pain, people struggling to put their bodies and lives back together. A few of them are about finding a way to cope with the loss of a loved one. Engine 33, Ladder 15 — housed in a brownstone and opened in 1888 — is a firehouse at the hub of The Hub, a long fly ball from Fenway Park, the unofficial firehouse of the marathon, right on the route, just over two blocks from the finish line.
“Fear came across our finish line last year, and now we’re pushing back,” said Lt. Paul McCarthy. “After what happened (with the bombers), and what happened to (fallen Boston firefighters) Mike (Kennedy) and Eddie (Walsh), we’re making a statement. We’re not just Boston strong. We’re America standing as one. We’re taking our finish line back.”
Every year on Patriots’ Day, there is a big party at Engine 33 and Ladder 15. Family and friends show up and root on the runners, and especially their own runners, who will begin their race with a Mass near the starting line in Hopkinton with Father Brian Jordan, chaplain of the New York Fire Department. They will be wearing their Boston Fire Department shirts and plan on running together for the whole race, right to the end, when they make a right on Hereford and left on Boylston, and see the banner in remembrance of Eddie Walsh and Mike Kennedy, and think about Frankie Flynn, a man so outgoing he made Dale Carnegie look like an introvert.
The runners will be Chris Dunn, Justin Dornhoffer, Mike Tierney, Dennis Kane, Dan Donahoe, Brandon Finn and Mike Merchant (Joe Roach and Eric Wirtz planned to run, but were injured in training.) The sign will come at just the right time.
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