On the date of April 15, 2013, one of America’s greatest events, symbolizing sportsmanship, camaraderie and brotherhood ended in a grizzly disaster.  Two Chechen brothers, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, detonated two bombs on Boylston Street, near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Three people died, and 264 people from around the world were wounded.

On the date of April 21, 2014 to Patriot’s Day, the city of Boston, the United States of America and athletes from around the world will come together to participate in the 118th edition of the Boston Marathon, giving a clear message that the mission of these terrorists was a failure.  Former Boston Mayor Menino gave a promise to all the survivors, on the first anniversary of the attack, that the people of Boston would never stop supporting them. I would like to go further and promise these survivors that we will all stand with them. We will all be Boston Strong.

Some may wonder how I could make such a bold statement concerning people I have never met in a city I have never been too.  It is actually very simple.  When the Tsarnaevs blew up Boylston Street on that fateful day now over a year ago, they were not simply attacking a street.  They were attacking the people of Boston, but they were also attacking all of the United States.  An even broader statement: they were attacking everybody throughout this world who believes in competition, humanity, sportsmanship and the freedom to be a proud brother or sister to all of mankind.  They failed, and it is our duty as free men and women of whatever city, state, or country we hail from to show them that.

David Ortiz, the most-beloved player of the Boston Red Sox reassured the people of Boston, as he said, “This is our [expletive] city!”  I am a great fan of Mr. Ortiz, who became a citizen of the US in 2008, but I believe that we should go further.  This is our freaking world, and nobody is going to dictate our freedom!