Emotional impact of attack runs deep, wide in Boston
By Mark Arsenault and Andrew Ryan | GLOBE STAFF APRIL 15, 2014
On Patriots Day last year, a teenage chorus singer named Zach Louissaint shot hoops with his friends at the Chinatown YMCA. That afternoon, they hopped the Green Line toward Copley Square, one of their regular hangouts, intending to watch runners cross the finish line.
But the lights were off at Copley station and the train plowed straight through.
The next 48 hours were chaotic for Louissaint, now 17, and his fellow singers from the Boston Children’s Chorus, as they performed four times at bombing memorials.
The events culminated in an emotional performance at an interfaith service at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
The audience included survivors, political and religious leaders, President Obama and Michelle Obama.
The chorus was exhausted and emotionally wrung out. In a quick pep talk, artistic director, Anthony Trecek-King, told his singers to dig deep.
“I know you’re tired,” he told them. “We’re all tired. This is what we have to do. It’s not optional.”
In the first row of the choir, Meghan Fitton recognized the first notes on the piano. She heard Yo-Yo Ma’s cello. She stole a glance at her conductor and saw the tear on his cheek.
“That’s when it all hit me,” Fitton said. “I knew I wasn’t going to be able to stop it.”
Hers was the sobbing, captured on national television, standing next to a soloist. But when the full choir joined the ensemble, Fitton took a deep breath, and performed.
“Some days I look down, afraid I will fall,” Fitton sang with the chorus. “And though the sun shines, I see nothing at all.”
A year later, Fitton remains proud of her small role in helping people heal. She has developed a great appreciation for her city, even if she lives in the suburb of Foxborough.
“Boston has my heart,” Fitton said. “I don’t think that will ever change.”
Louissaint marks the year past in many ways. For one thing, he is an inch taller. He also now thinks in a different way.
“That experience definitely opened my eyes to just being aware of my surrounding and, like, taking every day and cherishing it,” he said. “Every moment, just try to live it out as best as you possibly can.’’