The Last Week of October...

It's a time to think about Halloween.  It's' a time of think about the time change (which is this Sunday morning).  And it's a time to remember Sandy.

It's been 2 years and still the name Sandy means only one thing to so many people:  destruction.  Destruction of homes and destruction of life as we knew it.  It was not just a storm; it was a Superstorm.  Sandy washed cars and houses into the bay.  Keepsakes gone and memories clung to.

Two years later and the destruction is still visible.  The pain is still acute.  Progress has been made, but so much more still needs to be done.  The Jersey Shore still needs to be restored.

Two summers have come and gone since Sandy.  The summers are different now.  Not just because of beaches still being closed or the constant sound of construction.  The landscape will be forever marked.  Houses elevated and houses that remain "as they were".  And of course the missing houses; the gaps that remain where once stood a piece of family history.

The whole "feel" is different now.  The shore is sadder.  While still beautiful despite its many scars, the landscape is marked with melancholy.

Of course the people have bounced back.  They are stronger than the storm.  Yet as the years go by, you can see how it has aged everyone.  The long term effects of the storm are visible in every resident.  After all this time, how can one not be tired.  They are still fighters, but as the years go by how can they not be eroded like the shore line.

The last week of October used to be only a time of excitement for my family.  Halloween is a big holiday we all looked forward to.  But now as the holiday is almost here again, I am drawn back to memories of two years ago.  No matter how much time may go by, I think the last week of this month will always draw me back to Sandy.