An Ode to Boston as the Red Sox Travel Home for Game 6

When I started this blog over two years ago I was just leaving New York and embarking on a new chapter in Boston.  I was overwhelmingly negative about my new city.  In fact, "Where are the bagels?" was really a catch-all phrase that meant, "Why aren't things here like they were in New York?"  I even had a post dedicated to comparing the two cities.  Spoiler alert: New York came out on top.

And while I'll never get over delivery fees and an arterial subway system, a little space in my heart has opened up for Boston.  And I can't deny how that little space grew after April 15, 2013. 

In New York I got off the subway right in the shadow of the new Freedom Tower.  I watched the shiny glass move farther up the building every week.  Even though I didn't live in New York in 2011 (I was 14), the history of 9/11 loomed above me - both figuratively and literally.  For millennials like me, it shaped the way we view the world.  When I moved to New York, the original impression the event had made became even more indelible.

The fear of terrorism, like subway rats, was something I thought I was leaving behind when I said goodbye to New York.  Now both the offices where I've worked are around the corner from sites of terrorism.  It was in fact, the great familiarity of the location that shocked me the most when viewing video of the marathon bombings on television.

Local businesses, closed in the aftermath of the bombings, shared their support

Burger King offered free coffee when it reopened its doors to the Copley Square community

Tragedy, and shared experience, have a way of bringing folks together (and sometimes, I know, tearing us apart).

The ubiquitous "Boston Strong" alternated with route information on city buses

It took me a while to process my new feelings after the event.  The word "bomb" itself felt so big and round as to be impossible to wrap my mouth or mind around.  The T passed through the Copley station like a moment of silence.  I finally walked down Boylston with an awkward balance of trepidation, respect, and normality.  But it was while riding the 1 bus from Harvard to the South End one night several weeks later that I looked out and realized, I love this city.  It doesn't diminish my love for New York, my first love, but I did and I do.

Sidewalks in Boston Common were covered with chalk messages

Now it's October and the Red Sox are in the World Series.  I've never cared so much about baseball in my life.  It feels fitting; like the city needs this.

Boston's famous Make Way for Ducklings donned uniforms and this season's signature beard

As a New England native, I've always been a Boston sports fan, not a New York one, but this year in particular I just want the Red Sox to win, so badly.  There's something about their persistent underdog status (yea, yea I've heard all about their payroll - I will not be convinced), about Boston's down to earth, hardworking, revolutionary heritage that has had me up late for the last two weeks watching a sport that, quite frankly, I find boring.  But when they make the movie, I'll watch it.  From my couch in Manhattan.