Lots of my childhood got washed into the sea...

For many people in the Northeast, the story is the same. I will be writing about it for the next issue of Ukulele Player.

I grew up on the New Jersey shore. Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, and its famous Boardwalk, were a favorite place for summer fun and we always loved it there. Now, all those places are gone.

It is a time of sadness for all of those living there today and it's sad for those who grew up there and hoped to visit from time to time and cherish those memories and relive some of the moments. We have the memories, but the places have been washed into the Atlantic Ocean. They can be rebuilt, but as Chris Christie said, they will never be the same.

We are praying for those who weathered the storm, for their losses physically and emotionally. We also pray for the folks who lost family and friends and hope their memories are (at least) good ones.

We hope all this community of ukulele players are safe and sound.

Mickey & Mary Rose

I know what you mean, pip. I grew up at the shore and still go back every year for a reunion on Long Beach Island. Not sure if we'll have a place to go next summer. The thing that makes it great, also makes it so vulnerable.

Best wishes from Australia you guys, I can't imagine how terrible things must be for you and so many others over there right now. Our thoughts are with you all.

Things like this happen - things change. When we go back
sometimes it's a shock to see things are no longer the way
they are held in the memory. Time has moved on and with
it circumstances and life.

It is hard to see all the devastation that has come with this
storm. Am just glad that there weren't more lives lost but for
sure it has really upended a lot of lives and am just hoping that
things are able to be made as right as possible in as short of time
as possible. Am sure a lot of people are feeling a lot of loss at this
time as well as being grateful to be alive such a shake up of emotions.

May all be as well there as is possible.

Am shocked that the storms are hitting New York - thought moving to florida
that it would be something that might show up here but not in New York. For
sure the weather is changing.

Whilst I sympathise hugely with the people of New York (one of my favourite places in the world, and one I've visited twice), please also spare a thought for the people of Cuba, Haiti. The Bahamas, Canada, Jamaica and all the other places who have been affected badly by Sandy. Let's not forget that this storm isn't just limited to the continental US.

Sandy had a terrible impact across a huge area and it's important to remember everyone in its path. For people like me, who were not directly affected but who have memories of growing up in the area, we've been left in an odd emotional place. We are OK and we shouldn't be complaining (and I'm not)... but an important part of childhood has been destroyed, scoured away. As a kid I visited my aunt near Long Beach Island every summer. I have seen photos of LBI after Sandy, and I haven't fully processed how I feel now. My aunt has been dead and gone for years, and the house long ago sold to someone else, but I still can't bring myself to look through the satellite images for a certain house on a certain street in a certain town.

Yeah, I know: 1st world problems. But many of us from the Mid-Atlantic region of the US will be working through this. Hopefully while donating lots of money to the recovery efforts.

I am surprised at how many people seem amazed, like this could never happen. When my Dad took me camping on Assateague Island, I read a brochure that casually mentioned the area was known as Assateague Peninsula until the Hurricane of 1933. And I have harbored no illusions about barrier islands since.

Thanks Mickey, my family lost their beloved shore home to Sandy. Yes, the Jersey Shore will come back but it will not be the same.
Keep the memories alive!!!!

The Big Kahuna said:

Whilst I sympathise hugely with the people of New York (one of my favourite places in the world, and one I've visited twice), please also spare a thought for the people of Cuba, Haiti. The Bahamas, Canada, Jamaica and all the other places who have been affected badly by Sandy. Let's not forget that this storm isn't just limited to the continental US.

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QFT - just because they didn't have reporters roving the streets during the storm, doesn't mean it didn't happen.

For all of my 43 years, the Jersey Shore has been my home. My house is less than 500 yards from complete devastation. And, while my family has been ever so lucky to have escaped any of Sandy's wrath, some good friends and neighbors have lost everything. A week later and all you hear at night is the sound of sirens in the distance. Homes are still underwater and in what used to be nice, safe neighborhoods not far from my front door... Marshall law is basically in effect, with national guard and local law enforcement keeping looters from ransacking what little is left of people's lives. What you see on TV is just the beginning.

maximumcat said:

For all of my 43 years, the Jersey Shore has been my home. My house is less than 500 yards from complete devastation. And, while my family has been ever so lucky to have escaped any of Sandy's wrath, some good friends and neighbors have lost everything. A week later and all you hear at night is the sound of sirens in the distance. Homes are still underwater and in what used to be nice, safe neighborhoods not far from my front door... Marshall law is basically in effect, with national guard and local law enforcement keeping looters from ransacking what little is left of people's lives. What you see on TV is just the beginning.

Click to expand...

I have heard. I like the sign someone posted that looters would be shot. I am not surprised that there are looters out there taking what they can, and violent confrontations have been reported in various places. That is the saddest part of this story in my book, the inhumane antics of some people...

But then there are the stories of call outs to strangers on Facebook, and these strangers showing up and helping out, as you do after a hurricane. Cling to those stories when you start losing faith in humanity.

Plainsong, you are so right, we have to focus on the good. My heart goes out to all those in every country who lost loved ones, homes, memories, posessions, and so forth. Espcially if they lost their ukulele!

I wonder if there's any way to come up with a system to replace some of those ukes that were lost by our members. I know there are many more important things than ukes that were lost, but I also know how much joy they bring and how bad I'd feel if mine were gone.