Favorite Places

When I think of my childhood, majority of my memories take place in Bay Head, New Jersey.  This quaint town on the Jersey shore has been where my family has spent the entire summer for as long as I can remember. As we have all grown up, the importance of Bay Head has become much more apparent.  Shore Fresh, sailing lessons, tennis tournaments, days on the beach and a constant full house are what immediately come to mind when I think of my summers.  Bay Head has brought family and friends from all over the country together for weekends that will never be forgotten. Due to internships and jobs, my brothers, cousins, closest friends and I have found it harder and harder to spend long periods of time together in Bay Head.  Therefore, weekends that we all finally make it to the beach together have become the most valuable.  They are a time when we can finally stop for a second and appreciate not only each other, but also, most importantly, life in general. A time in particular that comes to mind was when my Uncle passed away last year.  The hardest yet most important place to be was as a family together at our house in Bay Head, one of his favorite places in the world and where so many amazing stories of his life took place.  Beyond just the limitations of my family and our love for the togetherness that Bay head brings, seeing as the town of Bay Head is less than a mile long, Bay Head has the strongest sense of community.  The friendships that I have fostered throughout the years, we follow me for the rest of my life.

            The week of October 29^th has started to feel surreal.  There was tons of talk and speculation surrounding the potential of “Hurricane Sandy” but it didn't feel like anything could have as much of an impact as it did.  The town of Bay Head was completely torn to pieces.  The National Guard was there for my multiple days; no one was allowed in.  There was no possible way to access any houses anyways due to the roads that had become rivers and the dunes that had left the beach and taken to the highway.  As time has progressed, the Bay Head community has slowly surveyed the scene and began to brainstorm a reasonable trajectory on how to prioritize and rebuild the place that we all love and call home.  Although the hardships are immense, the love and bonding that has occurred, and the way in which the Jersey Shore has joined forces and banned together, proves to me that we will all make it through and eventually Bay Head will emerge stronger than ever.

            Please every one take a moment to help those who are in need!

#COMM30Sandy is an online class project for the Media & Society class at Lehigh University, taught by professor Jeremy Littau. You can donate to our campaign at this link, and for more infomation you can email Prof. Littau at jeremy.littau(at)lehigh.edu.”