Jersey Strong

I was born and raised a Jersey Girl. I love Dirty Jersey, it's my hometown, my life. If you're good with keeping up with the news, you'd know Hurricane Sandy hit us pretty hard last October. It was absolutely devastating and a horrible experience to deal with. My house shook, the storm was hitting hard and since I live near the woods, trees were falling left and right. We had no power for 4 days and we had to take cold showers and everyday was freezing cold. We barely had food and there was nothing to do but wait around till it finally came to a stop. During that week, I tried to sleep but it was useless. I walked around with my friends and we played board games in their basement as we ate dinner under the candle light. It felt like we were in a ghost town for several days... no sign of humans around anywhere.. Once the storm blew over, I took a drive around with my dad to charge my phone because there was still no power. We drove slowly as we witnessed the severe damage Sandy has caused. Huge trees that you'd think were almost cemented into the ground, unable to move, where just lifted out with its entire roots and all. They lifted sidewalks and streets and crashed into houses or knocked over telephone poles into the street. Absolutely horrifying. A couple of days later,even when the power came back on so many people still in shelter afraid to leave their homes. 

Since Halloween was "postponed" by Christie until November, not many people cared to celebrate the holiday this year. It was so absolutely cold, almost like winter. After the storm, there was a huge snow storm, so that describes the freezing part. I took my baby brother out "trick-or-treating"with my mom, boyfriend and best friend. We all had to wear thick coats and gloves. Once we started going to a couple houses, we noticed a pattern... no one was giving out candy. People were actually hiding in their homes trying to avoid little children trying to make the best of the situation. Some were just throwing their candy to the first couple kids that came so that they didn't have to later on. It got so unbearably cold that we all just ordered pizza, made hot chocolate and watched movies until nighttime rolled in. 

A few days after everyone recovered and noticed the damage Sandy had made, help quickly came to the rescue. We stayed strong as true people of New Jersey really are and took action to get the East Coast back on their feet. One of the most devastating hits was at Seaside Heights. It destroyed the boardwalk and ruined most shops and amusement rides on the coast. Months later, the boardwalk was close to being completely finished and everyone was extremely excited to get back home and have fun again. I went with my family and my boyfriend and we walked the boardwalk, had 3 Brothers Pizza and went on the beach almost like we were paying our respects at a cemetery. We had fun, but we couldn't help but feel heartache for the parts of the boardwalk that were still unresolved. 

Months and Months later... actually today and almost a year since Sandy.. another tragedy happened at Seaside Heights. At 2:30 pm today, a fire started in Kohr's Ice Cream shop on the boardwalk. The fire violently spread to 19 other shops alongside it and the smoke rapidly grew. Another devastating blow to Jersey. After all the hard work many people have committed their time to getting the shore back on its feet.. and it was just burnt to the ground. I found out by my father texting my mom while we were at the nail salon and my heart just sank. The fire is still not completely out and I really hope everyone got out okay. 

Right now, we are experiencing another huge thunderstorm and I hope it puts out the fire. Jersey is just getting a beating this past year, but We are strong. We will get through this and overcome the struggles that we face. We always do. With each obstacle we overcome, we get stronger and we become better people. We are Jersey Strong! I love my hometown, please pray for everyone that lives down by the shore. I love Jersey!