I know everyone is writing about the same subject now, but I’m entitled, too. I’ve been a Sox fan since … well, as readers here will know, since the days of Mel Parnell. So while I’m not quite a lifer, I’ve been there through a lot of disappointments and celebrations. And this one does indeed feel very, very special.

The Brotherhood of the Beard came together to amaze and delight and finally unite all of us in the Red Sox Nation. An extraordinary coming together of talents and personalities turned last year’s worst team in the American League East to the best team in Major League Baseball in 2013. And who said 13 is an unlucky number? And they didn’t do it the easy way in the playoffs. They rolled through a parade of MLB’s finest pitchers to claim their much-deserved championship. But no one watched them and marveled at their unbounded talent; instead, they stuck around to admire their resilience and their guts and their determination. And surely in that there is a lesson for all of us, Sox fans or not. All of us who were never the most handsome, the best athletes, the most gifted at anything, can rejoice in what this 2013 team accomplished with its players.

So, yeah, I’m celebrating along with millions of others. (How did you enjoy the Series, Yankee fans?) And on Saturday, I won’t be there in person for the Duck Boat Parade, but I’ll be watching on TV and yelling with the rest. And pausing for a moment — along with everyone else — when that parade gets to Boylston Street and the site of the Marathon bombings. That was the low point, the awful, terrible low point for Boston and people who love it. The parade will stop, I’m sure, and pay respects to those who suffered and died there. All of us will, really. We will remember. And then we’ll all rejoice at this wonderful group of players who gave everyone so many good reasons to look forward. It is a celebration well-earned.

The Boston Red Sox. World Champions 2013!!!