On Monday, I was alerted to the terror by the parent of a teacher at my school who wanted to make sure that her daughter was at work. Puzzled, I said yes and offered to transfer the call but the mother stopped me and said, "Do you not know what happened?" I was completely clueless. At 3:30 pm, 40 minutes after 2 bombs went off less than 3 miles from where I was sitting at my desk, a parent in North Carolina told me what had happened and I ran into the main office telling the Assistant Director what I had heard. We both took to the news sites and saw the horror unfolding before our eyes. My phone started getting texts from family members who had just found out and wanted to make sure that my husband and I were ok. I texted my mom in Georgia, who still at school didn't know what had happened either. We quickly drafted an email to families letting them know that we were ok but that the phone lines were not functioning properly- I discovered later it was more likely that cell phones were being jammed by the police in an attempt to make sure no bombs could be set off by phone. We brought all of the children inside and I spent the next few hours going back and forth between answering phone calls and emails and searching through the news sites for more information. Bomb threats rang out around the center at T stations, at monuments, and I worked to make sure my teachers could get out as soon as possible.
The next day is a blur. I barely slept Monday night as I watched the news in the hopes that it was all a misunderstanding. 2 people were dead and over 100 were injured mostly critically losing limbs and with head trauma. The biggest news headline that evening was that one of the dead was an 8 year old later identified as Martin Richard. The Richard family is one that will be in my thoughts for a long time as not only did they lose Martin but his mother and sister were also injured severely. The week continued and my thoughts turned to those who will be in and out of surgeries for a long time to come, their families and their doctors (shout out to a friend who ran the marathon and then had marathon surgeries as he is a trauma surgeon at Mass Gen. A TRUE hero even before this but he's touched so many more lives now...)
My phone vibrated Friday morning, waking me up to another horrific scene. My friend wanted to know that I was ok after a police shooting in Cambridge at MIT (seriously we're talking blocks from my house) and a shoot-out in Watertown. I was so out of it after a night of sleep that I thought these incidents had only made the news because of Monday. Well, they did but I thought they weren't related. Then I found out the T was shut down and all the pieces came together. I called my boss (in Watertown) and a crazy morning began. Families were emailed saying that we were closing and teachers were called. The Governor issued a shelter in place or "get your ass inside" order basically shutting down Watertown, Cambridge, Belmont, Allston/Brighton, and a few other cities nearby. Then Boston meaning that basically all of Greater Boston was a ghost town. After a long day of watching the news and getting excited every time the police moved, we finally started to give up. They lifted the shelter order and someone walked into their backyard to find their boat covered in blood. Now I've heard several things about these events but basically after thinking we were giving up around 6:30, at 8:42, I heard the policemen on the scanner say they had him and the entire community that had SHUT DOWN for a day erupted into cheers. It was amazing.
So anyway, what do you do when you're stuck inside for almost 24 hours watching the news to see if they catch the bomber? I make cards... Here they are!
A birthday card but could be for anything!
I've had to make a lot of Thank Yous since my birthday... Always good to have on hand!
I found this on Pinterest and HAD to try! I came up with 2 versions of the pinwheel birthday card and will definitely use it again!
I had pirate stickers and my husband said he wanted them on his birthday card... I'm a bit early since it's not tip October but my 2013 cards are finished.
Of all the cards I made, this is possibly my favorite... I used tape to attach the hearts and hand drew the stitching since I don't have the materials to actually stitch...
We have 4 teachers leaving in the next few months. The puzzle was my original design and I was going to do them all this way but puzzle pieces are a pain to cut! So I did one... Sorry it's sideways...
Basically playing with my new butterfly and flower punches as well as some washi tape... I spent a lot on supplies but after being stuck inside, I wanted to be well stocked...
This did not turn out like I wanted but it'll do! The red circle is supposed to look like an apple but I was too lazy to cut an apple shape so I used my circle punch... oops.
I needed to make this card. I think it might be headed toward my friend who I mentioned earlier...
Well, that's it for now. I will likely be doing more narrative posts with pictures of cards because that is what I need to do... The combination is the best stress relief in the world
