Lockdown in my Hometown

So, I think you all know that Jordyn and I live in the Boston area... But have I ever mentioned which town?

As you may have guessed by now, we live in... Watertown.

Yup, that's right! The place where terrorists, gunfire, swat teams, and armored vehicles were hanging out all night Thursday and all day Friday.

I'll get to that story (nightmare??) in a minute, but first... Oh, the irony!... How ironic that my last post was all about which activity Jordyn and I should go to yesterday morning! In reality, neither event even took place, and the entire town and surrounding areas were in lockdown mode because of a terrorist on the loose. It certainly made the "decision" easier to make when there was no decision to make at all, but seriously, it wasn't worth all that!

Ok. So, before I went to sleep on Thursday night, I saw a story on the news about a policeman being shot on the MIT campus in Cambridge. I posted on facebook, "Are you kidding me?! Now there's a shooting (including an officer down) at MIT? WTF is going on in Boston this week?!?

Little did I know.

When Jordyn woke me up around 2:15am, I happened to look at my phone, and saw multiple fb messages that had popped up, as well as a text from a friend in Michigan that said, "Are u ok robyn?" that she'd sent at 1:56am. My first thought was, "Why the hell is she texting me at 2am??", but then between that and all the fb messages, I decided to check things out. I looked up what was going on, which was, as I'm sure you all know, the policeman having been shot by the marathon bombers, and then a police chase into Watertown, where there'd been a huge gunfight and explosions. And this was all still going on. I texted her back, "Holy shit... Yeah, I'm fine, I'm on the opposite side of Watertown from where I think it's all going down. Didn't know anything about it til I looked up to to see why you even asked! Makes me want to not leave my house, though. I go to that area all the time!".

Jordyn proceeded to sleep like crap the rest of the night, which means, of course, that so did I. We were up early, and went downstairs and put on the news. Wow. Total insanity, all happening about 2-3 miles away from our house, in our town.

I got on facebook. Post after post about the terrorist situation, and many messages from people asking if Jordyn and I were ok. I started to post. And ended up spending a good deal of time watching the news and on facebook throughout the day, while playing with and taking care of Jordyn, of course! I don't usually have the tv on much (if at all) during the day, but this was clearly extenuating circumstances! Here are some of my facebook status updates from yesterday:

For everyone who's concerned... Yes, we live in Watertown, but yes, we're fine. Its all happening on the other side of the town from where we live. Makes me not want to leave my house, though. We go to that area all the time. (This was before the lockdown was announced, when I was then not allowed to leave my house.)

Watching the news. Absolutely can not believe this is happening IN THE TOWN I LIVE IN!!!!!

Word of the day: SURREAL.

If you're watching the live situation right now, I live less than 3 miles from where it's happening. OMG, so crazy!

And then last night:

All is well. They finally got him! Alive! People are lining the streets of Watertown applauding as all the police cars are driving away.

And then this morning, as a joke (although I think some people thought I'd really had a bad dream after all that happened yesterday):

I had this really crazy dream about terrorists, bombs, gunfights, swat teams, and armored trucks... In my very own town! Ha!

I also reposted some funny/touching posts with pictures or graphics related to the whole bombing/terrorist situation. One funny one said, "If you're gonna use a boat to escape, make sure it's in water not Watertown". Another one said, "Time to get Bin Laden: 3,000 days. Time to get the Tsarnaev brothers: 4 days. Welcome to Boston assholes".

When I wasn't posting on facebook, I was texting and talking on the phone. My mom and sister are in Florida right now, and I knew my mom would have a total heart attack if she woke up and saw what was going on in Watertown on the news. So, early in the morning, when I was pretty sure she wasn't even awake yet, I texted her something like, "Preemptively texting to let you know that Jordyn and I are FINE. Now go put on CNN". I was hoping she'd see it before she put on the tv, and she did. I spoke to her twice yesterday, and to a few friends who called to check in. And many, many people texted and facebook posted/messaged to check on us. So I was constantly trying to keep up with all the phone calls, texting, and facebook messages from people making sure we were ok. It's so nice to feel so loved. :)

I also spoke to my boss about 5 times. I was supposed to work last night from 5:30pm-midnight, and there was this whole back-and-forth about whether or not I was going to go in. My hospital ID has a "disaster pass" on the back of it, so I can drive when there's a driving ban like with a weather emergency, etc., to get to and from work. So, I *could* have gone in to work even with the lockdown. But I didn't especially want to, mostly because I was exhausted, although I did think it would be kinda cool to see the deserted streets, etc. I called the charge nurse to see how busy the emergency department was, and she had me call back later to maybe come in around 8:00, but in the end, I didn't go in at all.

My dad came over, though, because he was coming to pick up Jordyn during a time when I thought I *was* going to go to work, and then the plan changed when he was already on his way. He hung out with us for a few hours, then went home when it was decided I wasn't going to work. I live in the corner of Watertown, and my parents' house is in the opposite direction from where all the craziness was, so he wasn't ever any closer to it than I was.

I wanted to take a nap with Jordyn, but during her morning nap, I was too busy answering texts and phone calls. I did nap with her in the afternoon for about an hour and a half, especially since at that point, I was still potentially going in to work, and would be up very late. I was just SO exhausted, between not sleeping much/well and the totally emotionally draining week it had been, and still was.

Here's the thing, though - I was honestly, truly, never really freaked out or worried. I don't know if I was in denial, or I just didn't really fully processe the enormity of what was happening literally minutes away, or what. But I never once, the whole day, got freaked out. In the morning, I did go down and deadbolt the front door (I always lock the door, but don't usually deadbolt it, because, I mean... it's Watertown (having been robbed in November notwithstanding)), but more because I felt like I "should", not because I was actually worried. I guess it's a good thing that I wasn't more upset about the whole thing, and it's not like I was reckless or anything (i.e. I didn't go down to watch it unfold in person), but really? Shouldn't I have been just a little freaked out about all of this?

I actually thought it was kind of exciting, and thought it was cool that I was watching international news stations on tv, and I recognized where they were. I knew that across the street from the line of state cops standing on the side of the road is the Target I go to like once a week, and behind them, in the Arsenal Mall, is the Chipotle I go to often enough. I could see the signs for the Panera I go to sometimes. And when they found the guy, in the boat, it was actually slightly closer to my house than the stores and restaurants. I mean, that's my 'hood. I think it was just so surreal that my brain couln't process the enormity of it all. At least, that's my theory.

To clarify, when I say I thought it was "exciting" and "cool"... that is NOT to make light of the people who's lives were lost or irrevocably changed with this incident. I in no way, shape, or form would ever want something like this to happen for the excitement of it. It's incredibly, heartbreakingly sad that people had to die because of these two lunatic brothers who, for reasons as yet unknown, decided to bomb the finish line at the Boston Marathon on Monday, and shoot and kill a cop, and engage the police in a car chase while throwing bombs and grenades out the windows, and then in gunfights. This is the stuff of movies, not real life, and certainly not life in Watertown, Massachusetts. My heart goes out to the families of the victims, and I thank all of the law enforment agents who searched for, and found and caught/killed the terrorists.

What a week.