Boston Marathon... explosions ... people are hurt.
I caught every second or third word as the couple walking ahead of me talked to each other. It seemed like she was reading a news story on her phone.
It sounded serious - very serious.
I was headed towards TD Garden last Monday when I overheard parts of that conversation after having wandered around the city on my own waiting for the Bruins to take on the Ottawa Senators.
My wife Amanda and I were in Boston last week on vacation. It was our first time visiting the city and as a lifelong Bruins fan, I'd bought tickets to three hockey games. Amanda was excited to go to a conference at MIT on the Monday and Tuesday.
That Monday was to be a big sports day in the city with the Boston Marathon taking place as well as the Red Sox and Bruins in action.
With plenty of time to spare before the hockey game was scheduled to start I dropped by a sports bar near the arena. Each of the TVs were tuned in to news stations, the coverage showing the stomach-turning scenes of explosions amidst the crowd gathered to watch runners take part in the 117th edition of the famous race.
It was hard to watch. As the bar filled up with more hockey fans, I traded emails with Amanda to figure out plans to meet up and exchanged text messages with family and friends checking in to see if we were OK.
It was a huge relief to link back up with Amanda. As we rode transit back to Jamaica Plain, the neighbourhood we stayed in, the scale of what happened began to sink in.
The bombing killed three people, including an eight-year-old boy, and injured many others.
The atmosphere at Wednesday's Bruins game against the Sabres was very emotional. Tributes to the first responders and the victims of the bombings were given while national anthem singer Rene Rancourt started off the Star Spangled Banner before turning it over to the crowd. It was tremendously loud.
Participants and spectators of the marathon were asked to stand and received a big ovation. Once the game was over, players from both teams skated to centre ice and gave a salute.
Hearing reported details about last Friday's confrontation between police and bombing suspects Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev was surreal. Seeing photographs from the shootout scene was eerie because the community where it took place looked similar to the neighbourhood we stayed in.
Some of the businesses were closed in Jamaica Plain Friday during the lockdown while others remained open. The Bruins game scheduled that night was postponed until the next day. The city's transit system was shut down while authorities searched for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19.
During the day we went out for a walk, got coffee and watched some of the non-stop news coverage on TV. It seemed the more I watched, the uneasier I began to feel.
Tsarnaev, found by a resident in their backyard, was eventually captured that night.
Some holidays are more memorable than others.
This was one I won't soon forget.
