I live in Boston.

Last Saturday, several of my cousins came to visit.  We all grew up not too far from the city — the length of a long commute — but we’d only spent a handful of afternoons there as children: field trips, Disney on Ice, maybe a birthday.  Boston seems like a world away from my hometown.  Though I’ve lived here for two years, Saturday was the first time most of them had come to see me.  In other words, it was a big deal.

So we squired them about downtown, my boyfriend and I.  The seven of us ate Boston’s best burgers, walked past Berklee College of Music and the reflecting pool at the Christian Science Monitor.  Symphony Hall.  The Prudential Center.  Copley Square.

“This is the Boston Public Library,” I said.  The BPL is one of my favorite places in the city.  We were walking along the right side of the building towards the square, on the other side from Boylston Street.  In front stood a giant white tent.  It took us a few minutes to realize why.

“It’s for the Boston Marathon,” three of us sighed, almost as one. The medical tent, where less than 48 hours later EMTs would be treating sudden amputees.

Right now I am in my bedroom waiting for news.  Where I work has been closed today per instructions by police, as well as my way to get there, were it open.  They have asked everyone to stay inside and not answer the door.  Vague sirens in the distance — not sure if this is related or unrelated to the fact that law enforcement are on a manhunt for the second suspect.  Probably unrelated; the suspect is supposed to be in Watertown.  But he’s got a car.  But it’s unlikely he would head back into Boston, isn’t it?  I don’t know.  I am afraid.  Sad.  Stunned, again.  I felt that I needed to say something about this, but I have nothing.

For everyone in the area, stay safe. For others, please donate to the One Fund Boston — it’s raising money for the bombing victims and their families.  (A friend of mine has decided to run a half-marathon over the summer to raise funds for the charity; if you’re interested, here’s her pledge page.)

Other things people have written about the bombing at the Boston Marathon:

• Into the Fold, Thomas Page McBee
• Stunned Silence, Roxane Gay
• You May Leave Boston, But Boston Never Leaves You, Andrew Cohen