This Christmas I traveled home to NJ, as many of you know. It was the first time I had been home in 6 months. It was therefore, the first time I saw our beaches..."post Sandy".
My sister brought me out to show me and of course, my camera came along.
We didn't drive up and down the coast of NJ, visiting towns we'd only been to once or twice. We didn't venture too far at all. We didn't have to.
In fact, we didn't drive but 10 minutes away from our childhood home, to the beach we grew up on.
These pictures are of one small beach town. They don't capture even half of the worst of the damage that was done to the Jersey Shore. They don't even capture the worst of this town. These pictures do show destruction, however. They show the destruction that remains two months "Post Sandy", after attempts at cleaning up, rebuilding, and reopening had already been made.
I don't think I could have stomached seeing my beach any earlier than this.
I know Sea Bright and many other NJ towns will rebuild. I also know it will be a long, hard process; and even then, it will never be the same. The seats at Steve's that I sat on during my high school summer mornings will not be worn-in the way they used to be. The markings on the walls at Donovan's are forever washed away and the ticket booth my friends and I once stood in, collecting parking tickets while singing songs from "Rent" at the top of our lungs, no longer exists.
But, I know, in time there will be "new" and with even more time, it will feel again like it used to.
This is my feeble attempt to show my respect to those that lost everything in the storm.
Video Link Here:
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