We. Will. Rebuild

October 29 is a day that will always be remembered as a devastating day at the Jersey Shore. 

We live about a mile and a half from the beach but were not evacuated. Tony wanted to stay home and keep an eye on his house. So I stocked up on the essentials... water, food, and batteries. We lost power about 7pm.  Grace and Lily were both still awake. The winds were incredible. Like nothing I have heard before. It was so dark outside that we couldn't even see what was going on. We decided to all sleep together in the living room which we felt was the safest room in the house. There were no major trees in the front of the house. In the back of the house we have (or should I say had) a good amount of trees. At around 9pm there was a big gust of wind and we heard a loud noise. Grace kept thinking it was thunder but we knew it wasn't. Tony looked outside our back door and saw a tree down on our deck. It was so scary. We tried to keep Grace calm.. she was the calmest out of all of us. We had Annie playing on the IPad and she fell asleep to "Tomorrow." Lily slept in her pack and play. Tony was snoring next to me. And I was texting back and forth with my neighbor freaking out about every little sound we heard. I keep hearing loud booms and trees falling. There was no way I could sleep. 

We woke up the next morning to this.... 

 This is the view from Lily's window

 We couldn't even get into our backyard. The tree fell right in between our home and the fence. We are so lucky it did not fall on top of our garage.

The tree fell right onto our new deck but did not damage it at all.

 The tree by the swingset split.

 Minimal damage to the gutters.

 We were without power for 6 days. 

I was looking on Jersey Shore Hurricane News on Facebook and they talked about this truck that pulled into our town and was selling generators. So Tony drove over there and waited in line with about 100 people. 

Generator... Check

He went to his friends around the block to find oil and his friends neighbor had some

Oil... Check

Gas... He went to the parkway and saw the line to get gas backed up miles. 

We've never seen anything like this before. 

My Mom told me she has some gas in her garage so Tony went over there and got some.

He hooked up the generator to the electrical panel and got us lights in the entire home. 

We had lights but no heat and it was COLD... The girls and I went to Sue and Ron's apartment and stayed there for 2 nights along with my parents and Aunt. The girls and I stayed on a blow up mattress in Sue and Ron's bedroom. Thanks :) 

 My fondest childhood memories are of the Jersey Shore. Aunt Fran and Barbara would bring us to the beach and boardwalk so many times during the summer. My family and I would spend two weeks every summer in LBI. I wanted to raise my family at the Jersey Shore. That's why we moved here. 

Grace has been to the Seaside and Point Pleasant Boardwalk so many times already. We go on the rides, play ski-ball in the arcades, play at the candy stand to win Sour Patch Kids. 

I brought her to the Asbury Boardwalk one time and she had a fit because there were no rides. The little quarter rides did not satisfy my little dare-devil.

To see all of these places so badly damaged is heartbreaking. We will always have the memories but what is the Jersey Shore going to be like in the future. Will is ever be the same? I know it will be rebuilt  and we will make new memories with our families and friends. I just can't believe what happened. 

Grace winning her first back of Sours.

 At the Seaside Boardwalk with Daddy about to go on the ferris wheel. 

 Our brave girl.. looking down.

 Having a blast on the bumper cars.

 One of the many walks on the boardwalk after dinner. 

 Grace LOVES the beach!! Loves the sand, collecting seashells and going in the water.

 Time to clean up... Grace had so much fun playing in the leaves that fell off the trees when Tony was cutting them down. 

 Tony had to chainsaw a tree down that split in half. It was too dangerous to keep up.

 He made Grace a seat.

 The amount of debris we had from the trees Tony cut was ridiculous. I wish I took a picture. We watched as it was taken away. 

Driving around and seeing all of the destruction brings tears to my eyes. You drive around and see people's whole lives on the curb to be thrown in the trash. Mounds of garbage everywhere. Sand is still covering some of the streets. Roads are blocked off. Some parts of the beach are off limits to the public.

We went up to Spring Lake Boardwalk to see that it was totally gone. The only boards left were the ones on the curbs to be picked up with the garbage. We even saw some down the street from Ocean Ave. It is just total destruction.  

 This used to be the boardwalk.

 But it's time to move on and time to rebuild. We all need to help where we can to restore our shore. Donate your time... money or goods. Every little bit counts and every little bit helps. 

I can't wait until we can walk on the new and improved boardwalks of the Jersey Shore. 

We will rebuild bigger and stronger than before.