Jersey Strong

About two and a half months ago I moved to a place that had experienced the most damaging hurricane in US history. Seven years later, the flooding and destruction still haunts this city, and is still prevalent in a lot of neighborhoods. However, the spirit of the city is alive, and for the most part, has recovered and rebuilt.

Last week, my beloved Jersey Shore experienced something that I never thought I would have to see: complete and utter destruction and devastation. Beautiful homes that I've driven past countless times, bars that I've wasted nights away in, boardwalks that I spent most of my childhood roaming, and some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, all were hidden under water, and in some cases, swept out to sea.

It has been surreal watching footage of homes that are now merely pilings, and once-sturdy bridges fallen and damaged. Because I'm so far away, it hasn't hit me that it's real yet. In two weeks when I return to Jersey for Thanksgiving, I keep expecting to go lay in my bed, in my house, and walk on my beach. However, this won't happen, and probably won't happen for a very long time. It will be months until my mother will be able to return to our home, and even then, the repairing begins.

Clean up on the island has already begun. Organizations and workers have been busting their asses day in and day out to repair the shore. Agencies, corporations, TV stations, and celebrities have been diligently working to raise money for the restorations. It has been so beautiful to see how many people care about such a stunning area of the country--an area that has gotten such a bad reputation in recent years.

One thing does sadden me is the amount of people that have been taking to social media to say that we should have expected this, and that no one should have built houses in such a hurricane-prone and flood-prone area. What really bothers me is when people say that it's not a big deal because they were just vacation homes. First of all, there's no way to expect such a tragic natural disaster. Natural disasters occur all over America, and the world. If we all had to live in places that would avoid all natural disasters, then there would be no place to live. In any region of the US you can be hit with a hurricane, a tornado, an earthquake, a blizzard, etc., but that shouldn't keep you from living in a place that you love. I'm convinced that the beaches of Lavallette are some of the most beautiful beaches in the US, and I would never give up my house there. Even if you told me ten years ago that this was going to happen, I would do it all over again, because it would be worth it.

Many of these homes were not vacation homes, and even if they were--so what? People made memories there, spent the best part of the year there, and always had a place to travel to when their stresses were too much to handle. I met my best friends in Lavallette, and will always consider them my family. It is such a small town, and even before Sandy it was clear that the people in Lavallette were a family. Now, after a significant part of our town and surrounding areas have been devastated, I don't think we've ever been closer. It warms my heart to see people reaching out to people--friends offering to help in any way that they can, even if they experienced disaster themselves. Despite the bad reputation that Jersey has, these are some of the most selfless people I've ever encountered in my life, and I'm blessed to call them friends and family.

I know that the shore will never be the same. My idea of "normal" will never be normal, and my favorite spots I traveled to as a child no longer will exist. But soon enough, the shore will be rebuilt. And although I can't promise that it will be bigger and better--because I can't possibly fathom it being better than it was--it will be different, and beautiful, and a place to make a new lifetime of memories.

I hope the memories of the shore will never be forgotten. They will always be engraved in my heart, just as the people that helped make those memories will always be there. I will never stop loving where I came from, and although I'm thousands of miles away, I will always come home. You can take the girl out of Jersey, but her heart will always remain.

I also solemnly swear to learn all I can while I'm here--how they recovered, how they rebuilt, how they handled the devastation--and bring it back home. I've never been more confident of the path I'm supposed to take in life.

Until then, stay Jersey Strong. We're the toughest state in the nation.

"Beach kids always feel no pain, and when they do, a case of Corona can always cure that. They move with the tide, and always have 'no worries'. Beach kids at the Jersey Shore have always known that life is just one big party at their hands." -Asbury Park Press

(I did not take these photos--they are taken from online resources)