Stories of Kindness After the Bombing

In all the horror in Boston Monday, there are also heartening stories about how kindness emerged from tragedy: people on Twitter urging others to note the people who run towards the explosions, not a way from them, to help; stories of heroism from runners; journalists who ran the marathon, springing into action to cover the story; the first responders. As we remember to be good to one another in the face of this event, here are some of those initial reports. 

There have already been staggering images of the first responders helping: 

First responders (Photo: Kylie Atwood/CBS News) twitter.com/pourmecoffee/s…

— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) April 15, 2013

Police react in aftermath of explosion #bostonmarathon #boylstonst (John Tlumacki photo) twitter.com/BGlobeSports/s…

— Boston Globe Sports (@BGlobeSports) April 15, 2013

The NBC Sports Network tweeted about runners who kept running to just to aid those left behind: 

Reports of Marathon Runners that crossed finish line and continued to run to Mass General Hospital to give blood to victims #PrayforBoston

— NBC Sports Network (@NBCSN) April 15, 2013

Some runners offered their jackets to help keep people warm: 

At copley. Runners offering each other jackets to keep warm. Even in heartbreak there is good in people.

— Megan Johnson (@megansarahj) April 15, 2013

But it was also the residents of Boston, who stepped up to help in the aftermath. The Boston Globe's Martine Powers talked to a woman who explained that she was in the tunnel heading to the race's "last stretch" when runners were stopped by police, after they heard there were explosions "Residents from the houses along the route brought out food and water for the runners."

Ramsey Mohsen—who has been chronicling his experience at the marathon, including his time in the sidelines before the bombing— posted a photo of a local Bostonian giving people a bathroom to use and orange juice.

Later, Ali Hatfield, who was with Mohsen and appeared to have been running the race, tweeted: 

People are good. We met a woman who let us come into her home and is giving us drinks.

— Ali Hatfield (@AliHatfield) April 15, 2013

Mohsen wrote: 

Our Bostonian host Margaret is telling us stories about her husband who was a writer for Time Mag #bostonmarathon twitter.com/rm/status/3239…

— Ramsey Mohsen (@rm) April 15, 2013

At this point- all of us are just trying to laugh, find the good, and make this best of this situation. #BostonMarathon

— Ramsey Mohsen (@rm) April 15, 2013

The number of people who are opening up their homes to the displaced has also been evident, in the number of people who have  put down their information on a Google Doc, offering shelter for runners via Boston.com. 

And there were other isolated tales of kindness from the community: Boston Globe reporter Chelsea Conaboy noted two pastors with Bibles offering comfort: 

Two Lutheran pastors walking Commonwealth, Bibles in hand. For those who need comfort, they said. #marathonbdc

— Chelsea Conaboy (@cconaboy) April 15, 2013

In other cases, there were just simple moments of love, noted amid the chaos: 

Couple just reunited. twitter.com/megansarahj/st…

— Megan Johnson (@megansarahj) April 15, 2013

And intercity love, too:

(Click here for news updates from the darker side of a very dark day.)