Everyone measures their life in milestones. Whether those be their first smile, their first steps, or graduating college, having a kid, milestones should be celebrated.

That’s why I’m so proud of what I am.

This is where I introduce myself. I have no name, but I’ve always liked the name Ruby, so you can call me that. I have no solid age, I’ve been around since before the Earth, in one form or another. Magma, lava, sediment, clay, I’ve always been here, always changing. But how I am now is my favorite form.
I am a pebble. You think that’s boring? Try getting kicked around and stepped on every minute of every day without bruising or bleeding or even feeling pain, I think that’s pretty awesome.

But why I’m happy now has less to do with what I am and more to do with where I am. See, I sit in front of the Boston Public Library. Not many people see me, because not many people visit libraries anymore. But I see them. Especially when my favorite time of year comes around.

I never know exactly what day it will be, so I sit there every day, waiting to see if the crowd will come today. Looking forward to it is a great feeling, but still almost incomparable to how I feel when it finally happens.
Early in the morning, people start rushing around, setting up tables and tents, orange cones and roadblocks, poles and a huge banner, all across the street. The crowd comes and settles down a few hours later, and hours after that, I feel the movements in the ground.

They’re on their way. The glinting people are flying up the street toward me, pumping their arms and legs in a desperate effort to get to me.

And then one, and then two, and then thirty thousand people have made it all the way to me and beyond.
Some jump for joy as soon as they pass me, others upon seeing me alone. It’s a glorious feeling.

Everybody likes a milestone, but everybody loves me, because I am not just a milestone. I am a 26.2 milestone, I am the milestone that everyone strives for.

I’m Ruby, and I sit at the finish line for the Boston Marathon. And that is the best feeling in the universe.