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One day after the horrifying events in Boston, Carol Wilson and her children are finding that talking about the ordeal is helping them accept it.
"Right as we got our blankets, that's when the blast happened," Carol said.
It was Carol's first Boston Marathon. She kept her daughter, 15-year-old Olivia, and son, 10-year-old Richard, home from school Tuesday.
Her husband, who returned to work, was able to capture photos of the family during the horrific scene.
"My husband called me from where he was standing on top of the barrier, so I went over to him and I hugged him. I'm like 'what was that?' He said, 'Whatever it was, it wasn't good,'" Carol said.
"The guy next to us was telling us to stay calm," Olivia said.
"And we saw a bunch of people in wheelchairs; we saw them getting into ambulances," Richard said.
The family made its way back to the hotel as police arrived.
At that time, Carol was on the phone, assuring relatives they were OK.
But she wonders about the fate of a woman she met before the race.
"She was from Atlanta, Georgia and we were starting in the same wave," Carol said, but after the explosions, she never saw the woman again.
The experience reminds Carol how much her kids' childhood is different than her own.
"When I look back at my childhood, we never dealt with anything like this, since [Richard's] been born, it's really been a way of life, unfortunately," Carol said.
But she teaches them not to let fear control them.
When asked if she'd return to Boston for next year's marathon, Carol replied, "Heck yeah. If you can qualify, get in, it's an honor. It's an amazing city and an amazing run."
