Doug Saffir

It’s days like yesterday that are supposed to change a city forever, and maybe the bombings at the Boston Marathon will have that effect. But I’m sure hoping they won’t.

I woke up today and went through my normal routine on what ought to have been a very unusual day. I got up, got ready for work, and hopped on the train into Boston. Everything seemed normal, but there was a different air about the train car, and it wasn’t at all what I expected.

My city, one I’ve lived in and around for the last five years, was attacked. It wouldn’t be surprising to see an uneasy morning commute. But that train car wasn’t nervous – it was resilient, kind, and full of love for our neighbors. Ears, normally deaf to the calls to make room on the T, were heeding the request today as people shuffled over to make space for fellow Bostonians. Commuters, usually absorbed in their iPods or Kindles, today skipped the isolation routine and wished a kind-hearted “God bless you” to the passengers feeling a bit sniffly. The sense of community was palpable.

President Obama referred to Boston as a tough and resilient town, and while I had always believed that to be true, this morning proved it. The first bombings on the domestic United States in over two years did not change us for the worse. It did not make us skeptical or fearful of humanity and what it’s capable of. And it did not take away that most important thing: our ability to prove that in the face of goodness, evil doesn’t stand a chance.

So today, I’m going to take the extra time to tell the people close to me how much I love them. I’m going to do my best to help my fellow Bostonians whenever I get the chance. I’m going to be grateful for living in a place where tragedies shine lights of moments of bravery, not on the senseless infliction of pain. And – like a Bostonian should – I’m going to keep my chin up, because whoever is behind yesterday’s horror does not deserve to see me or my city falter for even a moment.

Boston will mourn those lost, pray for those affected, thank those who ran in when most ran out, and move forward with pride in the fact that it will not change for the worse because of this. It will only get better, proving to those that try to harm us that we are always a city, a state, and a country united.

Photo Courtesy Globe photographer John Tlumacki