Dearest Blog Readers,
I'm sorry for my recent lack of posts. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, it just didn't feel right. Honestly, a lot of everyday things don't feel right anymore.
Some of you lovely readers share in this devastation, living in New Jersey alongside myself. Others live all around the country... some even around the world! (As a side note, if you're taking two minutes out of your day to read this.. then you're beyond amazing and I adore you!!!)
If any of you non-East Coast residents are anything like I was then Hurricane Sandy probably fits among the likes of every other natural disaster.
You see the images of broken boardwalks and flooded homes. Your heart breaks for those people and that damage. You say, "I'm going to help!" You donate your $10 to Red Cross or watch the benefit concert and send positive thoughts their way.
A few days pass and coverage slows. Coverage soon comes to a hault. Soon it's a distant memory and off I went back to my everyday life of working,
going to school, hanging out with friends, and obsessing over nail
polish and fashion blogs.
Please don't get me wrong, I don't discount the good-hearted moves. These are wonderful, wonderful things to do that help out complete strangers in their time of need.
I was just like you. I watched Hurricane Katrina. I watched the Tsunamis on the other side of the world. I read the stories, watched the news, and made my donations.
It never occurred to me that while it wasn't in the forefront of my world that these natural disasters were still in the forefront of those that went through them.
One of the reasons I love living in the northeast, and New Jersey in particular, is because we very rarely struggle with natural devastation.
The west coast survives earthquakes. Middle America struggle with tornadoes. The southern states are whammed with hurricanes. While NJ obviously isn't without a hurricane here or there, the most difficult disaster we normally see is a nor'easter.
A big, fluffy snowstorm that generally isn't life threatening, adds some snow-shoveling muscle and provides a few days off from work or school? I'll take it!
Hurricane Sandy opened my eyes.
I live in an incredibly central part of the state. I live less than an hour from The City and less than an hour from The Shore. These wonderful places where I built friendships and memories -- chock full of damage. Many of said place - destroyed.
Before the storm I was naive. I thought, "Okay we'll probably be without power for a bit. One day, maybe two at the max. Some trees will fall. How bad could it be?"
Then I sat for a day without power. Then two. Then three. Then five. In total seven days without luxuries we take for granted like electric heat and the magic of light switch when a town is pitch black.
I felt uncomfortable but fortunate. A neighbor up the street saw a 20 foot tree fall right to their doorstep. Another further down the block saw a similar tree that took the power lines down with it. A block over saw a live wire in a snake-like S keep their road closed in both directions for a week and a half.
Many towns saw things much, much worse. Trees fells onto houses, crushing people inside. Towns near rivers experienced flooding as badly as those near the ocean. Many of those said towns weren't asked to evacuate because the reverse flow of water was so unexpected.
The damage along the shoreline breaks my heart. Places where I laid out my towel and got my tan on just a couple months back are almost unrecognizable. Wooden boardwalks are left only with the supportive under stilts. Homes are deemed un-liveable. Businesses collapsed to the ground.
The hardest part is that this isn't just news affecting perfect strangers on my laptop screen. People I know lost their homes. People I know lost their towns. People I know lost their cars.
Places that held so many deep, dear memories are gone -- washed right out to sea.
In previous natural disasters, I was naive and uninformed. I picked my life back up and went right on along with it. This time, in the aftermath, I felt incredibly wrong posting about things like nail polish or pumpkins.
I want the world to know it's still not over yet, as I now learned was sadly the case for those in Hurricane Katrina, the 2004 Tsunami and many, many others.
It's two weeks later and there are still down powerline poles with police tape surrounding them. Roads are still blocked off. Tree trunks sit in my neighbor's yards. Shore towns still look like a bomb went off. It will take time to recover.
We are Jersey Strong and we will recover. Yet I sit here, now with both
electricity and internet access again at my fingertips, to hopefully
enlighten and share perspective.
I'm so thankful for so many amazing, hardworking people both in state and out of state who worked relentlessly to put the power pole puzzle pieces back together as quickly as possible. I admire those who worked day and night to clean up the damage.
Every day I see trucks from places like Texas, Florida, or West Virginia and it brings a tear to my eye. So many people traveled so far just to help. Everyday I hear stories about people across the country donating and helping. This warms my heart to the core.
If you have yet to do so, every little piece counts. If you can donate a few dollar, it helps someone still without a home. If you can send food, it helps someone still without food. If you have old clothes or items you won't use anymore, it helps keep someone warm. If you can spend some time volunteering, it helps bring a smile to someone's face.
In a couple days, my blog posts will return to normal. Life will roll on as it always does. I'll once again share my polish, my favorite things, and my life. But a normal life for so many others is still a long way off.
Because of this, I needed to take a second and send out a reminder. Help anyway little that you can and thank you to those who already have. Your kind heart means the world to a complete stranger.
Until next time...
