Boston celebrates the Red Sox

An exuberant parade

David Ortiz. Photo by Parker Harrington.

Readers of Monday Morning might be surprised that I am writing about baseball, a first for me. But here I am in Boston for national meetings of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health and our School’s alumni reunion. I wanted to be able to tell my father about Boston’s reaction to the Red Sox win. (He grew up in Salem, Mass.) I took a break from Saturday meetings and watched the parade.

It was amazing. Hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom had taken early morning subway and bus rides, were lining the streets, waiting for their heroes to pass by on the duck boats making their way slowly down Boylston Street. I stood in the midst of a group of Hispanic families, shouting “Ortiz! Ortiz!” with such pride and affection that I found myself overcome when his duck boat passed by.

I was standing right behind one of the media stands with cathedral across the street, to left.

I looked around and marveled. Barely six months ago, Boston was overtaken by tragedy at the Boston Marathon. Yet, people had picked themselves up and come out to celebrate a win that represented not just a team’s victory but a city’s triumph. They were there—old, young, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, people of clearly different income and educational levels and political views. It was an amazingly diverse crowd, but they had one thing in common. They loved the Red Sox. And now, so do I!

Now, back to the meetings. Happy Monday. Barbara