I recently moved out of my childhood home, and it was so much tougher than I thought it would be. I’ve lived in the same place for 16 years, so to suddenly be in a new environment with a blank state for all these memories to be written on is almost unnerving.

The back room of Davis Square’s Irish pub, The Burren, appeared at first glance like a regular busy evening on Monday night, with a crowd of workers looking to relax. But this wasn’t your average...