Ever start telling the story of something that happened to you – something that strikes you as either interesting or funny in the extreme – and then realize halfway through that it’s just not the same now that it’s secondhand? Then comes that lame ending: “Oh well, I guess you just had to be there…”

You really had to be at the March for Life 2013.

I’ve been browsing around a bit online, just to see what the general media has to say about the event. It’s not much. Most of the articles I read (here’s a rather refreshing exception) painted a picture of a few thousand people walking up Capitol Hill in a halfhearted sort of way – after all, as more than one author hastened to point out, ‘anti-abortion activists’ are losing support in the US, and they obviously know that their agenda isn’t far from failure.

I’m not sure we attended the same event.

At the Vigil Mass on Thursday, I survey the crowds from my seat on the floor. According to my meticulous research, the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception can hold about 6,000. I think we challenged that limit on Thursday night…

Before Mass begins, a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal asks if he can have the patch of floor next to mine, and introduces himself as Brother Antonio. He strikes up a conversation with the high-schoolers behind us, drawing my attention to the fact that the majority of us in this church seem to be under the age of 30…

Early morning bus ride to the Verizon Center, to join about 17,000 young people for the Youth Rally and Mass for Life. The rally has outgrown the Verizon Center, and this year we were united to the same number of young people at the University of Maryland’s Comcast Center…

The Verizon Center has seen its share of athletes, rock stars, and their ardent fans, but this is something on a different level. Young people from dioceses around the country stand up to cheer when their bishop is named, and then kneel on the floor of the stadium to welcome Jesus Christ in the Eucharist…

We leave the Verizon Center in a flood of people, which grows with every block as we approach the National Mall. Suddenly, our youth rally seems small in comparison to the crowd ready to march to the Supreme Court building…

The march finally begins. 650,000 strong, the crowd surges down the street. People pray the Rosary. They sing. To our right, high-schoolers  are shouting out cheers – they sound like the cheers you would hear at a football game, but if you listen closely you’ll notice that they’re slightly modified to include ‘pro-life’ or ‘save those babies!’

Is that the Incredible Hulk coming down the sidewalk?? Look out, Washington; the Avengers for Life are here! Wait a minute…those Avengers look a lot like the Regnum Christi Missionaries from New York…

The march comes to an end in a storm of cheering and singing, and an unofficial march begins as the crowds spread out over Washington, looking for buses and flooding Union Station. They are still making their voices heard via signs, sweaters, hats, and scarves all sporting the message: WE ARE THE PRO-LIFE GENERATION…

On Saturday, the March for Life is definitely over. Or is it? The Basilica is filled for Saturday morning Mass. And then another Saturday morning Mass. And then another and another…

We head to the National Mall, now in the official capacity of tourists, and find friends at every turn: a group of Dominicans are discussing paintings at the National Gallery of Art. A red hoodie-clad youth group from Ohio swarms the Air and Space Museum.  A small crowd of seminarians are munching sandwiches near the Washington Memorial. The witness continues…

That was my March for Life, as far as words and pictures can convey the experience. While I hope that it doesn’t take too many more marches to motivate lawmakers to take a second look at Roe vs. Wade, I can’t help but be thankful to have this reason to stand up for the culture of life. See you on Wednesday, January 22, 2014!