This is the Gilgo Beach section of Ocean Parkway. I drove up and down this road thousands of times going to the beach for recreation as well as to and from work for a few years. Look at where the water is now. The dunes are gone. Why bother trying to rebuild the road? It will take years to dredge up enough sand for the miles of beach that were washed away. It's almost beyond comprehension the amount of time and effort it's going to take to rebuild the shore lines.
I post all these pictures because it's important to me that those who were merely inconvenienced understand how devastating the storm surge was. Again, like with the gas issue, get in the car and drive. Go take a look at what has happened. It will break your heart. Wind damage is very destructive, but the rising water and crushing waves wiped out everything that the families on the coast owned. I cried almost every time I watched the news the week of the storm. Aside from a few shingles and some aluminum trim, there was no damage to my little home. I feared returning to a tree through my roof and years of memories lost through the destruction of my things. I would have lost my mind.
Last weekend, my friend called me a DL baller... as in I have things, but I don't flaunt them. I may have some stuff, but almost all of it has a unique memory or two hundred behind it. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if those reminders were gone. Maybe that's why I don't throw out papers, notes, cards, and stuffed animals as often as some of you. I don't delete old e-mails and chats from friends and family. I haven't even upgraded one piece of furniture since the first apartment I lived in after leaving the sober house (even though I never liked some it). Maybe I'm going crazy, but the idea of losing the memories that go along with these material things really shakes me to the core. I think I might actually have gleaned a little understanding of how my Grandma felt when she finally emptied her house. How do you throw away a memory? Sniffle.
