Signs Of Healing On One Boston Day
BOSTON (CBS) - It's kind of sad to think that the students at Saint Brendan's school in Dorchester -- and all kids their age, really -- will grow up here with the tragedy of the marathon bombings deeply embedded in their childhoods.
Fifth grader Ryan Quinn used to play flag football with the youngest victim of the attacks, 8-year-old Martin Richard.
"I lost a friend this day two years ago," Quinn explained after students at his school put on a special presentation to mark One Boston Day. "It was really sad for me, so today we sing a song of peace to remember all those who were lost."
But then again, Mayor Marty Walsh has said that his goal behind One Boston Day is exactly that: to take an unbelievable negative event and turn it into a positive one.
Or, as Saint Brendan's fifth grader Ryan Healy put it: "Turn a sad day into a happy day."
All over the city today, you could find signs of healing. Workers at the Hynes Convention Center gave up their lunch hour to plant blue and yellow flowers along the marathon route on Boylston street.
And dozens more volunteered their morning to clean up Filipello Park in Watertown.
"After everything the city has been through, I just think any little bit that we do can help," offered volunteer Lyanne Claudio. "I know it's nothing major but I think it's nice to always give back."
