Togetherness
The other day, my husband and I made a crazy decision; we decided to attend the Celtics Victory parade in Boston. The last time we made a crazy decision like this, it was 20 years ago, and my beloved Boston Red Sox had just won the World Series after an 86-year drought. I typically do not like crowds. I prefer to watch most championship games on a tv in my family room. Officials projected a million fans would attend the parade. I am not sure what compelled us to take the train to be a part of the celebration. But we figured we could turn around at any point if the crowds were overwhelming.
We arrived at Alewife Station only a half hour before the parade was to leave the Garden. There were many green-bedecked fans who were on the “late train” like us; families, students, middle-aged folks, older folks (like us), kids, professionals. There were huge lines of people waiting at the ticket kiosks. A young couple told us to go to the other side where the lines were smaller. Before long, we were all on a train to downtown Boston. There was a calm but palpable excitement amongst the fans.
As we all ascended the stairs at the Park Street train station, we heard a sound like the buzzing of locusts. The duck boat parade had already started, with throngs of fans lined up to cheer their heroes! Fortunately, the duck boats are high, and the players are tall, so catching a glimpse was not a problem. We followed the parade down Tremont and then across the Common and Public Garden toward Boylston Street. It is hard to capture the feeling but as I looked around, the energy was positive, peaceful, respectful and grateful. The Public Garden was the greenest I have ever seen, fitting for our hometown team, with the kelly green of t-shirts and banners blending in with the willows, lindens and oaks lining the park.
The pedestrian parade that followed the duck boats was not pushy, rude or boisterous. It was as if a relaxed, joyful, dream-like serenity had settled over the city. There is so much in our world today that causes us to illuminate our separateness. That day, at that time, separateness did not exist. Instead, fans with a common love, the Boston Celtics, joined together, regardless of political ideology, race, religion, ethnicity or socio-economic background, and experienced togetherness. Our differences melted away, and perhaps for a day, we were able to realize that we could join our humanity in a celebration that allowed us to feel we were all part of something special.