PAX Centurion - Special Edition 2013

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • Special Boston Marathon Bombing Issue 2013 • Page 21 when he wore glasses as a child. Kailey treasures the case and still keeps her glasses in it. At MIT, Sean Collier looked after the students with the same pa- ternal concern he had for his nieces. If some people dismissed some of the MIT kids as nerds, Sean was fiercely protective of them. When a young woman was assaulted on campus and was terrified at the prospect of identifying her attacker, Sean showed up and liter- ally held her hand. “When people say he was born to be a cop, they should know that didn’t start when he was 18,” Rob Rogers said. “It started at 3, when he began looking out for everybody.” Sean Collier grew to love country and western music. One of the country music stations plays the national anthem at noon every day, and when ever Sean was in his cruiser at noon, he would turn on that station and listen to the national anthem. The love of flag he devel- oped as a little boy never left him. And yet he was especially welcoming to the MIT students who came from countries where the police are not trusted. He won them over with his easy smile, a kind word, his remark able ability to re- member even the most unpronounceable names from far-flung lands. His brothers and sisters sat there Monday, preparing to say good- bye a final time, and they smiled and laughed more than they cried because Sean Collier did so much in 27 years, and one thing he did was teach his siblings how to live a good life. “I am so proud to be his brother,” Rob Rogers said. “He made me want to change the way I live. He made me want to be better to people, to protect people. He made me want to be like him.” (Reprinted from The Boston Globe, Tuesday, April 23, 2013) A memorial was created for fallen MIT Police Officer Sean Collier. A moment of silence for MIT Police Officer Sean Collier.