After Elliott and I heard the news of the explosions at the Boston Marathon yesterday, we joined everyone in horror, grief, and prayer. Boston holds a special place in our hearts. In 2008, we met, made memories, and fell in love in that beautiful city. With this tragedy, ours was the grief and horror that comes when you know and love a place, when you have cousins running the marathon (so glad you’re safe, Allie and Meghan!), when you can picture so exactly what a place looked like before bombs ripped through it.
After I heard the news, I looked back through old photos from my life in Boston. I thought I’d share some of them with you today. Such a different life Elliott and I lived then! He was a fourth year veterinary student at Tufts; I lived in Cambridge with 2 wonderful girls and worked as a medical ICU nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston. Here’s just a glimpse…
One of my favorites from our dating days, taken with the self-timer on Elliott’s camera when we went hiking on a frozen lake near his home in Westborough.
Christmastime in our apartment with my roomies, Sarah and Kate.
Above left: Our reflection in the glass of the Charles/MGH station while waiting for the T.
Above right: Many, many Sundays after church Elliott and I took long walks along the river to Harvard, warming our hands on big cups of coffee along the way.
Sunrise over the Charles River, taken from an empty room on my unit at MGH.
Lunch at work… always outside from April to September!
Above left: shopping for mugs at a Beacon Hill craft fair with my friend Becca. (I seem to always have friends named Becca.) I bought a mug that day that I use every single morning to this day.
Above right: Off on an adventure with my sister! Visiting one of the Trustee’s Reservations: Appleton Farms Grass Rides.
Em with the calves at Appleton Farms.
Hmm…! Feelin’ goofy in Providence, RI, on a day trip with my roomies.
Sooo windy at another one of the Trustee’s Reservations, World’s End.
Above left: When Elliott left MA to go to the Basic Officer Leadership Course and “go Army” on me, we sent a journal back and forth in which we wrote letters to each other and pasted little souvenirs (pictures, leaves, flowers, maps) from MA and TX.
Above right: The helipad at MGH.
I love you, Boston! We’re praying for all those mourning loved ones, recovering from injuries, and affected by this tragedy.
hold the phone, your husband is from Westborough? Me too, WHS class of 1994 (he looks much younger than I, though!)
It’s a special place for my husband and I as well. We met there in 2003 and fell in love there. So many happy memories from my early 20’s were there.
As a nurse, I wanted to run to MGH and volunteer to help after this tragedy. I am still processing it.
Whoa, small world! Elliott’s not from Westborough, but he lived in Westborough for four years (three of them on Milk Street, if you know it) while he was in vet school. It was a pretty short drive from there to Grafton where the vet school is located.
Boston is a wonderful place for falling in love, I think. Glad you also had that experience! We’d love to move there again… one day…
I love looking at photos of my wife and me before the kids were born. Of course, I love and cherish our family photos now, too. But the days where it was just the two of us were very special, and the photos that capture those times are precious.
Totally agree, Ethan! Thanks for your comment and for stopping by.