Boston Strong: A Personal Reflection

It’s been almost a week.

For those of you that haven’t been following the news or anything of the like, Monday will mark one week since the Boston Marathon was heinously attacked. I live in Massachusetts and have a large amount of family (both biological and other) that either lives, or works in Boston. For a moment; time froze. There is nothing that will ever ease the news of our states home city being savagely attacked.  I waited with baited breath for phone calls, social media updates, and any sign that those I loved were ok. Thankfully, no one that I knew was injured. So many others were however, somewhere around 200 families (biological and other) felt the shock of domestic terror.

I was angry. So angry I saw red. I wanted the ones responsible dead.

Then I sat back and waited for more news. I saw one of them was no more than 19, the same age as my little sister. I wondered what happened, and for a moment, felt something I wasn’t familiar with. It was an emotion I certainly wasn’t ready for.

Remorse.

Remorse for wishing someone who is just starting out on his life; dead. Remorse for his family.

I became angry with myself when that happened. He acted without any remorse. Why did he deserve mine?

I couldn’t answer that. Not readily. But come Friday, sitting watching again as the state came to a stand still for a third time, he was caught. Lying on a boat, alone, and bleeding badly. He would live to answer for his crimes.

I breathed deep as he was caught and rushed to a hospital. For the first time in a week, I realized that it was going to be ok again.

For now.  This reality of bombs and terrorists is a day to day reality for so many across the world. Syria, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and so many others. Realizing just how unsafe I felt for a week as news continued to pour in about my beloved Umass Dartmouth and the victims from the marathon, brought more than one tear to my eyes. I cried. And I sobbed. Not only for the events of Monday  but for all those that felt that there is no other way to change our world than through acts of considerable violence.

And then it hit me. Love. Compassion. Kindness of strangers. These are things that spring up in the darkest of situations. Random people reaching out, helping their fellow man; running into the war zone to break down barricades, tearing off their clothes to make tourniquets and save strangers limbs.  I cried because not only because did Boston see the worst of two individuals, but it saw the best of hundreds of them.

There is still much to be done within the city to recover and to ensure that hospital bills are covered. I may not be a Bostonian by birth but I am Boston Strong. I am an American and most of all I will persevere, and help those continue on with their lives.

If you feel compelled to help, below are two links to ensure that the victims and their families will be able to look forward to a bright tomorrow.

Red Cross:
http://www.redcross.org/ma/boston

One Fund:
http://onefundboston.org/

Speak Out with Your Geek Out: Costumes Continued

So even though Halloween is still a month and a half off, I've begun onstruction of my costume for this year. Given my last post about how much I love costumes, I'm going to share with you some of the pictures I've taken of my construction so far. It's a hat! I do so love the hat. The materials used with 1/4 yard of single ply netting in both black and purple (not tulle, that's something much finer), a purple 3 inch flower, one glittery purple and black bird, some 1 in purple satin ribbon, and a cheap top hat from iParty. Below are the results!

What are you doing for Halloween? Send me your pictures! I'll proudly post them in a special Halloween Week series of posts.

<3 Jessi

Brian Pt. 2

“Oh hush...” Her finger came to my lips and she continued. “Shhhhhh... little boys shouldn't scream like that... shhhhhhh.” I stopped. My throat was raw with searing pain. “Now isn't that better?” Her hand moved from my mouth to caress my cheek. I forced myself from her hand and stood, finally able to break away from what was holding me. She stood. The woman was in fact a woman and stood about five foot ten. She was taller than I am, but thinner. Her bone structure was fierce, and somehow reminded me of a lioness. A man stood next to her, though I hadn't seen him before now. He had similar features, and I could only guess was related to her in some way. I looked behind them, peeling my eyes off of my captors momentarily. The windows...

“Ah, I see you notice where we are. Good.” My face paled as she spoke. I stood in the center of the room I had been fighting to escape the consequences of for months. I feel to my knees, half in disbelief, the rest because, suddenly my body couldn't handle it's own weight. My arms fell to my sides and my head lolled back. I felt myself start sobbing. I couldn't stop the flow of tears. The eyes had seen too much and needed to wash themselves of it all.

“Stop crying, little boy...” Her voice started up again after a moment of watching me sob. I turned my head and the woman came into focus. The man stepped forward, stopping in front of me. He looked down a sort of sad smile on his face. I looked into his eyes, looking for some sort of hope. Instead of receiving that sort of grace, I got slapped. I closed my eyes and bit my bottom lip, taking a sharp inward breath. There was a soft 'hrmph' from behind him. I reopened my eyes to see his peering down into mine. They were gold. It was an odd color... but beautiful none the less. My face was grabbed and I saw instead of gold eyes, a pair of steely blue eyes met mine. They were hers. She pulled me to standing, seeming to carry the weight of my entire body by my chin. I whimpered. The pain was great, but I could only imagine-

“He thinks too much... Micheal, grab him and tie him to the post.” Gabriella shook her hand out, the punch having cramped it up. She cracked her neck and looked behind her. Adam was being tied to a post but Brian was stuck in the mirror across from him. Reflective surface, visible psychosis. Alter ego, demon, whatever you wanted to call it. Gabriella never called them demons. They were another side of the beast that fights for control. Brian sat quietly one eye brow arched, watching Micheal and Gabriella with growing interest.

“You're not going to do this are you?” Gabriella answered simply by pointing a gun at Adam's head and blinked at the reflection of madness. “Ah. I see.” His voice was chilly and somewhat calculating.

“My interest is not with you. I need to shut you up however. This poor little boy you're fighting over doesn't need the torment.” Her voice almost purred, as she dragged the gun's barrel down the unconscious man's neck. Brian frowned and then turned from them for a moment. Micheal frowned, glancing between his sister and the mirror. Gabriella's face remained fixed on the mirror.

“Fine. You have another year.” Brian's gaze fell over his shoulder not looking directly at either of them. “After that I will be back. He'll need to forget all of today.”

“A concussion will do the trick.” Gabriella frowned and raised a brow checking the mirror. “If you show any signs of deceit...”

“You wouldn't know they were coming” His words were quick and spiteful. A small smile formed at the corners of Gabby's mouth and she nodded, cocking the pistol and firing three shots into the mirror. Micheal blinked and began to untie Adam.

“We've got some work ahead of us...”

“Good morning, sunshine...” I woke to a bright light streaming through the hospital windows. A familiar face looked at me, though, I couldn't place her. I smiled at the nickname, and winced as the pain in my body rushed back to me all at once. “I'll call the nurse.”

I forced a half heart-ed smile and I closed my eyes again. The pain was incredible. The confusion was worse... Was there someone else in the room? I opened my eyes again, but it was much too bright to tell. Ah well. Maybe another friend...