Two weeks ago, I started this post with a list of things and pictures that I love and miss about the city. Between the time I started this post and today, the bombing of the Boston Marathon occured. The shooting of an MIT police officer occured. A car chase leading to Watertown happened, ending in a shootout and a 20 hour manhunt that shut down the ENTIRE city for a whole day. Boston was not the ideal place to be for those 5 days, and Chuck and I were glued to the news on TV, twitter, emails, and the Boston police scanner all week.
Imagine watching CNN and seeing bombs go off on a street you've walked down several times with friends and family, and knowing that several of your friends still in Boston were probably somewhere along the marathon route watching. Imagine 4 days later, your husband gets a phone call and text alert from his school, letting him know the school is currently on lockdown due to a shooting on campus. Imagine turning on CNN again and seeing BLOOD on the ground on the campus you lived on, worked on, where your husband goes to school, and where many of your friends are AT THAT MOMENT. Oh and did I mention that all of these events, including the marathon bombings, took place less than 1 or 2 miles from our apartment in Cambridge? These are our streets and our hangouts and we've now learned nothing will make you feel as angry and protective as seeing someone reek terror on them. It was so hard to watch this from across the country, but I can't even imagine the fear and anger that our friends and all Bostonians felt.
So you may think it's weird to see a post titled "I Miss Boston" after all of this has taken place, but I truly miss it and oddly enough, even more after what's occured. I know we weren't in Boston for very long, and we won't be for very long when we get back there in September, but Boston is our home away from (Kentucky) home.
Seattle is temporary and feels temporary. We live in short term housing and have none of our own furniture, kitchen utensils, decorations, etc. All of that is in our apartment in Boston, waiting for us to come back. So while I am selfishly thankful and glad Chuck and I were not in Boston last week, because I know we would have been SOMEWHERE along the marathon route watching and cheering, and somewhere on MITs campus on that Thursday night an officer was shot and killed, I miss it more than I ever thought I would and can't wait to get back there.
No offense to Seattle or anything, but in our short time here, I've definitely discovered, or more, CONFIRMED, that I am and always will be an East Coast kinda gal. I love the scenery here and the nice weather and my jobs and the 3 story Target stores, but that's pretty much it. I'm kind of a planner and a person that likes order and stability and I can't really say the same for Seattle. Nothing illustrates this statement more than the Seattle bus system. Will the bus be on time? 15 minutes late? 6 minutes early? Who knows? Who cares? That's pretty much the attitude about everything here. No one is in a hurry to do anything and everyone here tells me, that's just the "West Coast lifestyle." The East Coast moves a lot faster. Well, I'm from the East coast. I make an itinerary for everything. I like plans. I like calendars. I walk fast and if the bus says it's going to arrive at 4:33, I want it to be there at 4:33.
I digress.
Onto my list, created two weeks ago before all the madness. Besides the amazing police department and the people of Boston with their northern accents and constant use of the word "wicked," here are the things I love and miss about Boston, in no particular order.
Mike's Pastry. Oh how I miss standing in the long line to get a sweet and tasty Cookies and Cream cannoli wrapped up in the little white box with blue writing and a string tied around it after eating too much Italian food in the North End.
Riding the T. I know I've complained about the dirtiness and often crowdedness of the train before and I DO love having our car out here in Seattle with us, but sometimes I miss the ease of just walking out the door and onto the train to get somewhere quick, without the worry of "where will we park?"
Our things. We are living in a short term, furnished apartment right now. As I said, we have none of our own things here. Sitting on a couch that isn't ours, cooking with pots and pans that aren't ours, etc. We literally have our clothes, a few electronics, and a couple blankets with us. I miss our TV and our couch and our blender and picture frames and DVDs. I know that may sound petty but your things are what make your home feel like YOUR home, so without them it just feels like a hotel. (Some people might say your family is what makes your home feel like home and while that is true, your stuff is also important. Just sayin'.)
Friends. I miss the big LGO and SO community. The craziest (and coolest) thing about LGO is that you gain an instant group of friends. When we all moved to Boston last May, most of us knew no one else in the city, so we bonded together to take on the city and the program. How close did we get during that short time? Well, I will admit, I shed a tear or two after we said goodbye to our friends before we left for Seattle. And I think they are the main reason I keep saying I "don't like" Seattle. I miss karaoke Thursdays and game nights and nights at the Asgard and Toscanini dates and C-Functions and birthday parties and parties in the dark during a city-wide blackout and everything else we were doing in Boston.
The city. I love downtown Boston. The mix of old and new buildings, the brick and cobblestone, Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market, the North End, the Boston Common, the movie theater on the Common, Newbury Street, the Prudential Center, the Charles River, Beacon Hill... I love that on any given night, Chuckie and I can just go to dinner at a restaurant where Paul Revere used to hang out. I love that when my girlfriends and I are bored, we waste time eating near and walking around HARVARD or having drinks on a friend's rooftop in one of the most famous and oldest neighborhoods in the country, Beacon Hill. I just love it all.
Seattle doesn't have buildings like these....
Ok, I know I've been kind of harsh on Seattle in this post so here are a couple of pretty pictures so you know it's not all bad here and we actually are getting out and enjoying ourselves and our surroundings.
I wish more than anything that I could go to Boston with Chuck tomorrow, so I could hug our friends, eat at a Dunkin Donuts and shake a Boston police officer's hand. But, I will just have to wait for September. We are trying to enjoy our time in Seattle and take advantage of this amazing and crazy opportunity to live on the West Coast and have this experience, but I'd be lying if I said we weren't already counting down the weeks and days until we are back "home" in Boston.
Until then, we're going to keep thinking about the people and families affected by last week's tragedy (like we have been non-stop since last Monday) and pray that Boston can heal and come back even stronger of a city than it was before. Boston Strong!
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