Fayette couple grateful to have family home

Fayette couple grateful to have family home

 

Anelia K. Dimitrova
Contributing Writer

 

Son-in-law of Joe and Nancy Flores of Fayette, Scott Andreasen had just sat down with his family at a seafood restaurant a few blocks   away from the finish line of the Boston Marathon when he heard a blast.

Surrounded by his daughters, Emma, 11; Maddie, 8; wife Heidi; and parents Dave and Ann, the 38-year-old Kansas City lawyer was ready to celebrate his first Boston victory. 

It had taken Scott, a 1993 graduate of Cedar Falls High School, 3 hours and 32 minutes to conquer the coveted 26.2-mile stretch. He was elated that he had stayed focused and finished it, although he wished he had cut down on the clock a bit, a minor personal disappointment.

Yet, a celebratory lunch was in order as this was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for Scott. He had worked so hard and so long to accomplish it. 

As it turned out, he did not have time to taste the clam chowder or take a sip of the Sam Adams he had ordered. 

“It was a great day, but it turned into a very big tragedy,” Scott told the Cedar Falls Times from his hotel room in Boston soon after the bombings. 

In the ensuing chaos, with sirens blaring and crowds of distressed people rushing past them, the family members left the restaurant in a hurry and started walking away from where a second bomb had already exploded, killing three and injuring more than 170.

The Andreasens were staying in Cambridge, where later in the week authorities identified two brothers from the former Soviet republic of Dagestan, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, and Dhzokhar Tsarnaev, 19, as the suspects responsible for the bombing.

Following the April 15 explosions, the Andreasens looked for a cab but found it impossible to find one. 

They sought shelter in a small grocery store. There, in a gesture of stranger kindness not atypical of Iowa but rare in a big city, a female employee at the deli offered to give them a ride to their hotel.

The Andreasens were lucky that morning that instead of lining up along the Marathon finish line, where they had taken pictures on the Sunday before, they waited for Scott two blocks away at the designated family meeting area. 

Now the Andreasens are safely home, Scott and his family in Kansas City.

Asked if he would return to Boston next year, Scott said, “I would love to be there ... but I have to qualify again, which is easier said than done!” 

 

CUTLINE:

Scott Andreasen, his wife, Heidi (Flores), and their daughters Maddie and Emma were ready to celebrate Scott’s running of the Boston Marathon as the bomb explosions occurred April 15. (submitted photo)

 
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