Going Back To See Louise - Boston 2015

As a tag along before the 2014 Boston Marathon, I was fortunate to be invited to Louise's house before the start of the race...just go to the back door and walk right in I was told. Louise would love to have you, AND there is indoor plumbing.  Only now do I understand how fortunate I was to be there.   

More about Louise from the words of Mark Wright, my second best Facebook friend:  "I wanted to share (the picture below) to help illustrate why Boston is such a special place to me. Before the race each year, several of us meet up at the house of Louise, a lifelong Hopkinton resident who lives near the starting line. She is 86 years young, and regularly opens her house to us each year, sometimes telling us to just come in the back door and make ourselves at home, even if she is upstairs sleeping! She not only provides us with a warm, dry place (with indoor plumbing!) to rest before the race, she also shares with us her love for the marathon, and passion for the cities of Boston and Hopkinton. She even once treated a marathon runner who had severe cuts from an accident before the race by simply spotting him walking down the street and inviting him into her house! Louise, and thousands more like her from Hopkinton to Boston make the Boston Marathon a truly unique experience. We all would like to thank her so much for her generosity, warmth and spirit!"

I'm looking forward to seeing Louise again this year.  After emailing her not too long ago, she emailed me back this past week (using her iPad) saying "everyone is welcome!"  Wow.  Just amazing.

The scene at Louise's house before the 2014 Boston Marathon in Hopkinton