post hurricane Sandy- pictures of mom's house

This is our families house in Long Beach, NY. I know you know this city was hit terribly hard by Hurricane Sandy along with many many others. This place is special to me. I spent all of my childhood's summers there and lived there for my young adulthood up until the time Bill and I married. 

It's a wonderful place.... Most every good memory I have includes this place and the people from it.  Honestly it was sad to see the city in such a state but it's really about the people and I know you'll remember that as you look at these pictures. 

Here are some pictures of the hard work done by my cousin Howie and his friends who gutted the downstairs half of the house.  

Four feet of water flooded the downstairs level of the house our Mothers' still own during Hurricane Sandy. I can't even imagine what this looked like before can you?

I visited Long beach when I was up for Thanksgiving and the wedding last week. Even after weeks of clean up the signs of destruction are highly visible and I can't imagine the scars will ever go away.

There is much work to be done! This was scene right at the corner of my Mom's block. Here workers are clearing and taking away debris as the home owners strip their homes of damaged possessions, molding walls and floors and put it all on the curb for removal.

What I cannot show you in a photograph is the hope that I hear in every conversation with my family members and each and every friend I've talked to who was affected by this storm. They are all determined to rebuild and make this city better than before. Even those who lost everything are not deterred one bit.They as individuals and as a community are amazing people. They are salt of the earth strong and I am privileged to consider myself one of them.