Bostonians silently mark bombing, with family, co-workers, and total strangers

It was silent at 2:50 p.m., not just in Boston but in other cities, too, to honor those killed and wounded in the Boston Marathon bombings, but also to affirm the city's resilience.

By Allison Terry,?Correspondent / April 22, 2013

A moment of silence in honor of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing is observed on Boylston Street near the race finish line, exactly one week after the tragedy. People around the US and world joined in the silent tribute at 2:50 p.m.

Robert F. Bukaty/AP

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The busy streets of downtown Boston came to a standstill on Monday, as people stopped to observe a moment of silence at 2:50 p.m., the time the first bomb exploded at the Boston Marathon on April 15, one week ago.

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With grief, but also a sense of dignity, hundreds of people gathered at various landmarks around the city with their co-workers, families, and total strangers to mark the moment of silence together.

Church bells echoed across the city after the minute tribute, but at Copley Square, which is within the six-block crime scene area, a couple hundred people lining the streets stood in silence for more than five minutes. The Old South and Trinity churches also stood silent, because they, too, are in the off-limits area. Slowly people stepped away from the police barricade, going back to work, walking their dogs, or pushing kids in strollers.

"God bless the people of Massachusetts. Boston Strong," Gov. Deval Patrick said after the?moment?had ended, standing on the steps of the State House with Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray, Attorney General Martha Coakley, Secretary of State William Galvin, and House Speaker Robert DeLeo.

One group standing on Boylston Street quietly sang ?God Bless America? before leaving the area, while another cheered for a police officer pumping his fists in the air.

At City Hall, people just stopped in their tracks during the moment of silence, says Brian Signore, who is visiting from Tampa, Fla.

?Everybody just came together, but I guess tragedy is something that brings people together,? he says.

Doreen Reis, an advertising manager at the Boston Symphony Orchestra, was in the Prudential Shopping Center looking out the glass windows onto Boylston Street, a block away from where the second bomb exploded.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/jp9FL_aQwck/Bostonians-silently-mark-bombing-with-family-co-workers-and-total-strangers

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