Yesterday was Patriot’s Day—a Massachusetts holiday that honors the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. For those of us who live in Boston however, we mostly think of Patriot’s Day as Marathon Monday, when hundreds of thousands of runners come here to run a marathon in front of millions of spectators.
It’s always one of my favorite times of the year. We get the day off work, and often the first real sign of Spring, where I am reminded that winter is slowly backing away and won’t show its face again for another seven months.
Yesterday your dad and I were downtown during the race. We like to be out and about, but tend to steer clear of the race route itself because the crowds run in the millions near the runners, and your dad starts to get a little claustrophobic. We were making our way back home, around 2:45, along Commonwealth Avenue when we noticed there were a lot more police, fire trucks, helicopters, and soldiers present than we were used to during past Marathon Mondays.
It didn’t take us too long to learn that a bad person had tried to hurt a lot of people at the race, and the police were trying to get everyone to a safe place. Even though your dad and I were close to where it happened, we were far enough away to know that we were completely safe and didn’t have anything to worry about.
As we were trying to get home through the swarms of scared spectators, runners, news cameras, police and the National Guard, I had plenty of time to think about the world that I am about to bring you into. I think that thought has crossed the minds of all soon-to-be-parents, regardless of what age or era they are about to give birth in.
I didn’t hear the explosions or witness any of the injuries that occurred, but I did see a lot of helpful people on the streets, and I did get a lot of loving text messages and voicemails from family and friends, and I sure saw a lot of outpouring of cooperation, condolences, and support coming in from all over the world to our little city. From my vantage point, there was one unidentified bad person, but millions and millions of compassionate, caring and truly concerned good people all around me.
I came to the conclusion that regardless of what happened in Boston yesterday, or anywhere else for that matter, the world I am bringing you into is a fabulous one.
You are no doubt going to be born during a complicated time in our history. But when you think about it, every year probably tends to be more complicated than the year before, so we were all in a sense born during the most complicated time in history. The times we live in are all relative, and I believe it’s a rite of passage to be concerned about the next generation because at any given time technology is advancing, society is changing, values are evolving, and the future is uncertain. So while I worry somewhat about what the future holds for you, I take some comfort in knowing that my parents had that same concern about me, just my grandparents had for them, and their parents before them.
Even though part of my job is to worry about what sorts of things you’ll be confronted with in your youth that I never had to deal with in mine, your job is to approach life head-on and without fear. Obviously your mother would like for you to exercise reasonable caution when it comes to crossing the street, talking to strangers, and jumping off of things—but really I want you to enjoy this gift of life that I’ve given you and not concern yourself too much with those very few people on our planet who, for whatever reason, just do not want to let the rest of us be.
Always know that this planet is huge, and that there are billions of people who inhabit it, and 99.9999999999% of those people are good, loving, helpful people who do not want to hurt anybody. Unfortunately, due to 24 hour media coverage and our rapid access to information these days, most of the stories you will hear will be about those few people who do bad things. You will hear a lot of people say things like “what is this world coming to?” and “what’s next?” This will make your brain play tricks on you and tempt you to believe that there are more bad people than good people, and more bad things than good things. When you find yourself having those thoughts, just take a look around you and take note of all the people you see following the rules, and going about their lives without hurting anyone. And when you do that, remember that the reason nobody makes a big fuss over all the good guys is because human nature is actually good, so it’s not newsworthy. I guess we just like to talk about the bad guys more because there are so few of them.
It is my hope that as your mom, I can learn to navigate the scary things in life with you gracefully, because rest assured there will certainly be some scary things that will happen in your life. Both your dad and I have a lot to learn about that delicate balance between shielding you from the things you need to be shielded from, while being careful to not surround you in an unsustainable bubble of naiveté that will inevitably burst at the most inopportune time. I guess I’ll know if we struck that balance if I eventually see you approach life with perspective and calmness, with a mixture of realism and optimism. It will take you a while to get there though, as I’m still working on that general life approach myself.
In the end, just know that your dad and I will do everything in our power to keep you safe and healthy, and that it is our expectation that you will live life to the fullest and never look back (but also that you will be cautious when it comes credit card debt).
