“Join Or Die”

This blog post is not related to breathing or health and fitness, or
any of the things I usually write about.

Today, I’m writing simply to express my support for Boston.

As you may know, I lived in the Boston area for years as a kid,
and my better half is from there. We visit family and friends
in the Boston and South Shore area at least once or twice every
year. In fact, we were just up there in late March.

During our recent visit, my sister-in-law and her kids came into
town to stay with us. We took our son and our nieces and nephew
to see several historic sites, including the new Boston Tea Party
Museum (which I highly recommend).

That day reminded us of the toughness and resiliency of Bostonians.

The earliest battles of the Revolutionary War occurred in Boston
and surrounding towns. And prior to the war’s start, Boston was
the scene of much defiance against the British crown. In fact,
Bostonians got the brunt of British wrath for awhile there, and
things were really tough.

At the Boston Tea Party Museum, they let the kids “re-enact” the
evening on replica ships: They wear a feather in their hair as
their disguise (some of the original tea partyers disguised
themselves as Native Americans). And they get to throw crates of
tea off the ship.

Part of the story we heard about was the daring and courage of
these men (and some women) to stand up to the power of the crown,
such as during the Boston Tea Party.

The other part of the story – which you don’t typically learn
in your history class in school – is the drunkenness and even
hooliganism inherent in many acts of defiance.

For example, many of the guys who participated in the Tea
Party “fortified” themselves prior to with some drinking….and
a few of them drank too much and passed out. Their friends
simply dragged them down the street to a nearby tavern and
came by to pick them up later.

Well, maybe that’s not such a shining example. But it makes it
all so real, doesn’t it? As opposed to some mythical event. These
were real poeple, like you and me, doing this stuff…willing to
risk everything they had for liberty, freedom and respect for
individual rights.

These same qualities of defiance, standing up for what’s right,
and resilience are inherent in Bostonians of today. That’s why
I know Boston will be OK.

Seeing the response in the immediate aftermatch of the bombings –
first responders, Marathon volunteers and spectators rushing
TOWARD the scene to help the wounded – showed the rest of us,
and the world, just what Bostonians are made of.

Just what Americans are made of.

In the early years leading up to our declaration of independence,
Patriots fashioned a number of flags, such as the famous
“Don’t Tread On Me” with a coiled snake. One that’s less well
known was devised by Benjamin Franklin. His was a disjointed
snake, each piece representing each colony. His message was
simple:

“Join Or Die”

This is the similar in spirit to the “United We Stand” signs
we saw after 9/11, and that we see today after Boston.

We hung our “Join Or Die” flag on Monday evening.