As Barbara de Angelis says, "Difficult times always create opportunities for you to experience more love in your life." Hard times touch the heart. A bad experience can make us happy in the end; also people can find more love in their lives after hard times. I believe de Angelis’ quote is related to my amazing experience with Boston Strong. The people who experienced the Boston Marathon bombing in April 2013 were horrified and depressed, and the man who created the phrase “Boston Strong” wanted people to feel inspired, so they could focus on their work, studies in school, etc., instead of feeling bad about the bombing. The Boston Strong movement demonstrates people can feel proud of the city of Boston and be happy even after such difficult times.
Boston Strong publications and promotions will forever influence and inspire people. The people of Boston saw these publications and they supported the idea of honoring the victims of the bombing through Boston Strong. The people of Boston were upset, but they tried to think positively and be strong. I realized that I myself felt concerned about and upset by the Boston bombing. When Barack Obama came to Boston and gave a speech saying,”Our hearts are with Boston, we want to help them stay strong,” Obama affected my mood and really cheered me up. I felt so safe in my city because Obama helped to protect us from the two suspects. He was helpful to the whole U.S.A. I am thankful for Obama’s support.

What really happened on April 15, 2013? I saw on the news that many runners were motivated to attend the Boston Marathon. They ran for over fifteen miles, and the people watched the runners who were winning the race. During this time, the bombers brought their backpacks to Boylston Street. Videos taken at the Boston Marathon show that no one paid attention when the men put their backpacks on the floor nearby the finish line and escaped out of Boston. Their backpacks had pressure-cooker bombs inside. They exploded two times!

My brother and I were riding bicycles in Randolph at that time, and my brother looked at his phone to check the news on CNN. He tapped me. and said," Big news! Boston had an explosion one hour ago."
I said," Really? That is terrible!"
My brother said to me," Do you want to go home and watch the television news?"
I said," Sure. I want to see. I am curious about what happened in Boston."

My brother and I rode our bikes back home. We watched television and we saw that people got wounded in Boston. I was heartbroken that those men ruined the Boston Marathon. The politicians helped us be positive. The police encouraged us to not think about the Boston bombing. When I attended school, I worked to disconnect my mind from thoughts about the terrible Boston bombing. I focused on caring for myself all the time. Also I balanced my time to focus on my family, my homework, and getting good food and enough sleep.

The second day (April 16, 2013) CNN News announced that the Boston bombing killed three people and caused over twenty people to have injuries.
I told my father, “Boston had an awful day yesterday."
My father said," Yes I know. When I was at work at Emerson College, I heard the bomb. I was only 1 mile away."
I said, “That is horrible! Who killed the people in Boston?"
My father answered,"I guess terrorists from Russia."
I said,”Oh really? How did they bring a bomb to Boston?”
My father replied,” They think that the suspects used a backpack with a bomb.”
I was obsessed about the Boston bombing, and I really couldn’t think without remembering about the Boston bombing. Also, I wondered who the terrorist people were who bombed Boston.

My brother and I went to Starbucks. We were eating at Starbucks and discussing how we couldn’t believe that the year 2013 is unlucky because the number 13 is always unpropitious. We couldn’t feel positive, so we rode our bikes home and relaxed.
The third day after the bombing was April 17, 2013. I called my friend through Oovoo. We talked about what happened in Boston. He asked me,” Do you know that the police found the two suspects from the bombing in Boston?”
I asked,” Where did you find that information?”
He replied,” You need to look at ESPN Boston. It is full of information about the Federal Bureau of Investigations making inquiries about the two suspects. They found out that the two suspects are named Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev.”

I stopped to look at ESPN Boston, and I was floored. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was a student at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. Tamerlan Tsarnaev had two children and a wife. I saw the picture of them (which was a little blurry) from Boylston Street. In the picture, they were walking on the sidewalk, and I noticed they didn’t put the backpack on the ground in that part of the surveillance video. I was feeling afraid of them because I was imagining they might come over to my house. I thought my family and I needed to prepare to prevent them from hurting us, even though our city is far away from them. Everyone wanted the police to catch the bombers right away. I thought," If I could capture them, I would become a hero, but I am doubtful that I can! They could kill me anywhere. I couldn't protect myself."

I walked downstairs, and I shouted for my parents. I announced, “They found the two suspects who bombed Boston.”

My parents said to me,” Who are they?”

I answered, "They are from Russia and are named Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev.”
They said,” Obviously, they are from Russia.”
I said,” Do you want to join me to watch the news?”
My parents said,” Sure, let's watch the news.”
We watched the news on CNN.
The news said," Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev have been hiding,” so my parents and I were wondering where they were in Massachusetts.
When I went to sleep that night I was dreaming about the world ending because of them. I woke up again. I felt so scared of them because I still thought the bombers were alive and probably will destroy Massachusetts. I took a break, went downstairs, and gulped some orange juice to calm down.
On the fourth day after the bombing, I asked my parents,” Did you hear any recent news about the two suspects?"

They said,” We haven’t heard about them since yesterday. We hope the police will capture them some day soon.”

I was still thinking about the two suspects. I tried to stop contemplating them, but I couldn’t. The news announcements made me pay more attention to them. In my opinion, the news needed to talk about different themes, and not keep repeating the news about the two suspects. My brother suggested that I shouldn't think a lot about them. Also he offered to join me so we could do our favorite hobby. We went to my brother’s friend’s house, and we played on the trampoline and threw water balloons at each other. I was able to disconnect my thinking from the two suspects. I had fun with my brother and his friend all day.

At night, we arrived home, and I took my computer to do my homeworks. I noticed the news sent an email that said,”Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev shot a police officer at MIT.” I was shocked because they killed a police officer who was innocent. Plus, the police had been chasing them. I heard that Tamerlan Tsarnaev took out a grenade while Dzhokhar Tsarnaev drove with him. He threw the grenade, almost killing the police. They still couldn't capture them. I heard the news, and I thought," That is the most terrible news!” I decided to go to sleep right away.

On April 19, 2013, I was happy because I looked on CNN and read,”Tamerlan Tsarnaev died yesterday. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ran him over with his SUV car.” The news thrilled me, but I was still furious that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was still alive. I thought he probably escaped somewhere! I researched the internet for Boston news, and saw the government announced a police lockdown and people had to stay in their houses near Boston. I was a little worried because Dzhokhar Tsarnaev might hide so that the police couldn't capture him again.

That afternoon, I said to my parents,” Why don’t we watch to see what has happened with Dzhokhar?" We watched live news at noon and the police said,” We can’t find Dzhokhar.” We saw S.W.A.T. police and many police that went to Watertown to look for the bomber. They still struggled to find Dzhokhar. My parents and I heard about one man who wanted a cigarette, and he stood on the deck outside. He tried to check his boat. He noticed there was a lot of blood near the boat. He opened the cover for his boat, and he saw Dzhokhar there in the boat. He ran quickly toward his house and called the police, exclaiming,” Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is here in my boat!”

The police went to Watertown, MA at night. My parents and I kept watching the television. We wanted to know that the police would captured Dzhokhar. We were so excited! The police were avoiding Dzhokhar Tsarnaev because they knew when they walked close to him, he could explode the boat! They were using a small machine to speak to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. He decided to give up, and he got out of the boat. He went into custody. People were finally feeling safe! My parents and I were feeling so cheered up and safe. We labeled ourselves as part of Boston Strong. We were happy to be free in America with no cowardly villains in Massachusetts.

It was big news when they captured the two suspects in Boston. They didn’t ruin us in the U.S.A again. I realized that the bombing caused people to feel courageous and positive just the same as we did on 9/11/01. We knew we could go on with life. We could disconnect from the suspects and continue our lives. We felt very brave and inspired. After our discombobulated week during spring vacation was ruined because we were paying attention to the two suspects, we began to heal. We kept saying, “Boston Strong!” I was smiling and satisfied that my family helped my emotions. I loved them so much! And I am thankful to the police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the person who busted Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in his hometown because they didn’t surrender. They continued until they captured him. They were the best in the world! I hope such horrible events will never happen again in America.