Keller @ Large: Marathon Day's Biggest Winners
BOSTON (CBS) - The thing about the Boston Marathon is, it's a family event.
It's the start of school vacation week, and many workers have the day off. If you travel along the marathon route, you'll find wall-to-wall family gatherings, and a variety of amazing food.
Read: Boston Marathon Guide
The race makes for a compelling story to keep the kids' attention when Dad's anecdotes about the old days start to grow stale.
That's a part of why what happened at the marathon two years ago was such an atrocity, the murderers' choice of a family-focused event – and one family in particular – as their target.
So along with the race and the burgers today, take a moment to reflect on why we value family time at an event like this so much.
I saw an obit in the New York Times Sunday for Vivian Nicholson, a British factory worker married to a coal miner when they hit the lottery back in 1961. Suddenly, a couple that had been making $250 a week between them was worth millions.
But things didn't go well from there.
Vivian's husband was killed behind the wheel of the Jaguar he bought. She spent heavily on cars, furs, and fashion, insisting on wearing an outfit to match whatever car she was driving.
A TV movie was made about her entitled: "Spend, Spend, Spend."
Vivian died penniless.
"Winning the [lottery] wasn't lucky," she told an interviewer, recalling happier times when all she and her husband had was each other. "Just…loving one another. That was when I had everything."
Makes you wonder if some of Marathon day's biggest winners aren't off the race course.
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