The People Who Are Boston Stronger

He was the face for Boston Strong at the Bruins game last May. Yet as he says in his book, "Stronger," "I'm not a hero. I'm just a guy with no legs."

I felt honored and blessed to have met Jeff Baumann who is indeed a hero at a book signing at the Team Store on Yawkey Way before we were scheduled to take the field at Fenway for the pre game ceremony tribute to the Boston Marathon.

There was such amazing synchronicity throughout Marathon weekend. Despite thousands of people in the City, we seemed to be bumping into people we knew at every turn. We arrived early for the book signing not sure of how long the lines might be. We were greeted by the person who was working with the publisher for the publicity for "Stronger". Since there were no lines yet, Tom and I decided to take a walk around Fenway until it was time for the signing. As we were walking, Tom told me that we know that person who was working with the publisher. We thought about it and were finally able to come up with who it was.

We returned and a small line had formed. Jeff took time with each person in line, chatting, signing and patiently taking photos with all who wanted their photos taken with him.

While we were waiting, the person working for the publisher looked at us and us him and we said, Jeremy Solomons, right? He told us this is his new gig now. He explained that the publisher invited Wellesley Books, where he is the store manager, to be the bookseller on record. He came around from behind the table and hugged us. He shared with the woman assisting him that our kids used to babysit for his kids. He pointed out his son Jared who we could barely recognize given the passage of time. We caught up with each other and then it was time to meet Jeff.

Jeff is gentle and humble. We told him how honored we were to meet him and then I felt moved to share my story with him. When I told him that I contracted paralytic polio as a child and 7 years ago went back into a leg brace using a wheelchair at times for mobility, being given the diagnosis of post polio syndrome, a progressive neuromuscular disease but went on to run the 2009 Boston Marathon as a mobility impaired runner, his eyes lit up. He kept looking at me from head to toe saying, "You look so good. You're doing so well." I could see the feeling of hope going through him. We talked about Spaulding and how I continue to go there twice a week for Aquatics Therapy classes. He told me he goes for outpatient therapy once or twice a week as well. We didn't talk about where we were last April 15. There was no need but we did mention that we volunteered for this year's marathon as packet stuffers and would be taking the field at Fenway. He was excited saying that he would be there as well.

Part of being Boston Stronger is allowing ourselves to be vulnerable with each other. We acknowledged how challenging it is to live with a condition that will require care and treatment our entire lives. While I am blessed to have my legs, and certainly cannot compare the challenge of amputation with my challenges, we do share the challenges of living with residuals from trauma, healing from surgeries, and living with a condition that requires daily care and vigilance. Yet we also share resilience, persistence, gratitude and feeling lucky despite all that happened.

With his eyes sparkling with youthful innocence and excitement, he shared with us that the Red Sox invited him to be a part of batting practice. He told us it was the first time he was able to throw a pitch standing up. "Every other time I threw the pitch from the wheelchair." Gomes hit a home run off of him but he didn't care. He was thrilled to be out of his wheelchair and able to stand on his own.

I'm almost finished reading Jeff's book. I am so impressed with his honesty. He allows himself to be raw and vulnerable. Yet he consistently talks about how lucky he is and how grateful he is to everyone who provided him with an outpouring of kindness and generosity during his recovery.

As he shares in "Stronger", after the Wounded Warriors visited him at Spaulding last year, he set a goal for himself: to be able to walk when it was time for the 2014 Marathon. Taking the field at Fenway, he met that goal and exemplified what it means to be Boston Stronger!

The People Who Are Boston Stronger

{This past week has been a whirlwind of activity and emotions. I have been blessed to meet people who are the embodiment of Boston Stronger. My blog yesterday, today and over the next several days features several of the people who have graced my life during this past week since the anniversary of 4/15/13.}


I spotted the man in the white cowboy hat almost at the same time he saw Tom and me on Boylston Street and Yawkey Way on Sunday 4/20. We were wearing our BAA volunteer jackets.

"I'm Carlos," he said. "Thank you."

I said, "I know who you are." I threw my arms around him. "Why are you thanking me?" I asked him. "Thank you!!!" I said.

He told me that he noticed our volunteer jackets and wanted to thank us for however we were helping with this year's marathon.

He said, "We are all in this together. We are all in this together."

I asked if I could get a photo with him. "Of course," he said without hesitation.



After 4/15/13, I remembered reading a story about the man in the cowboy hat who had set himself on fire after his son died in Iraq and was responsible for saving the life of Jeffrey Baumann. Having worked at the VA, I had a vague recollection of hearing his story but in the aftermath of 4/15/13, I wasn't able to really take in the news of what was happening. I was experiencing my own traumatic reaction to the events and having been so close to where the second bomb exploded. Yet I constantly gave thanks that we were not outside because we never got the text that our friend hit the 40K mark. We had planned to go downstairs on Boylston Street after we received the text from the suite at the Mandarin where we were celebrating Marathon Monday with Spaulding Rehab.

We told him that we had done the packet stuffing for this year's Boston Marathon and were going to be a part of the pre game ceremony at Fenway. We told him that we had just come from Jeff's book signing of Stronger at the Team Store on Yawkey Way. We shared with him how moved we were to meet him and talked for a few more minutes before saying goodbye. Carlos introduced us to his wife Mel and we said we'd see each other at the game.

As it turned out, Carlos and the survivors came onto the field from another entrance but we did see each other at the game and felt each other's energy; everybody's energy that in fact we are all in this together.

When I got home, I googled Carlos Arredondo. My breath caught to learn that his son suicided after his other son Alex had been killed by a sniper in Iraq. I know all too well the heartache of suicide having experienced the suicide of my dad when I was 17 and then my 27 year old nephew in 2011, the same year his son suicided. He continues to struggle with post trauma symptoms from being right there when the first bomb went off. Rather than run for his own safety, he rushed in to help and saved Jeff Baumann's life.

In Stronger, Jeff talks about when Carlos visited him in the hospital. "He smiled and came toward me, and I couldn't help myself, I reached out and hugged him. Carlos is a hugger. He's always smiling, always wanting to step close and talk. ... He gave me a hat and a handwritten sign: Together Strong."

Jeff goes on to say that Carlos was reluctant to talk about himself but once he did, Jeff was moved to tears by his story.

"He had been at the finish line of the Boston Marathon handing out American flags. He was there to support the "Tough Ruck" team, twenty National Guardsmen who had started marching the marathon route with rucksacks at 5:30am. They were raising money for the families of soldiers killed in action, or those who had committed suicide or died in PTSD-related accidents. One of the guardsmen was marching in honor of Alex."

Jeff goes on to describe their encounter where they both cried, ending with Carlos saying to Jeff, "Don't cry, he said, wiping away his tears. Something good happened."

Here is a man who has been to hell and back and then was there to witness the terror of 4/15/13. Yet he focuses on the good that can come out of tragedy.

“It’s been a year of grieving, and of moving on with life, healing through the support of others,” Arredondo told the Globe. “It’s been a year of overwhelming kindness. Oh my goodness, the overwhelming kindness.”

How amazing that we just happened to 'bump into' Carlos Arredondo. He is a Gold Star Father Hero raising money and awareness for veterans and their families. We each felt an instant attraction and connection to one another. We both allow ourselves to live with a raw heart overflowing with love, gratitude and goodwill. I was passionate about my work as a VA social worker seeing first hand the ravages of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. I knew that I had to leave and could not care for this new wave of veterans. I knew that I was burned out, without any idea of how to take care of myself at the time and I had to hand the torch to the younger generation of social workers to carry on the work. I knew it was time to leave to heal my life. Carlos and I each know the pain of losing loved ones to suicide yet when we met on the street near Fenway Park neither one of us knew this about each other. We were separated by a distance you can measure in feet on Boylston Street when the bombs exploded. It was only by the grace of God that we were protected from experiencing the full impact of the explosions and have only emotional wounds to heal. All we did know was that we were all in this together bound by having journeyed through this last year together and finding ourselves Boston Stronger.