Traditionally a family holiday. Easter egg hunts in your yard with your kids, grandkids etc. Special baked goodies with grandma's recipes. Easter baskets that have been handed down through the family. That one day you can use grandma's egg plate! Special table linens that are for holidays only. So many of these things were washed away in Union Beach.
I was home with my family working in our yard Easter weekend. We had the last 6 trees cut in pieces that were blown down from Hurricane Sandy (23 trees fell) There was still trash and so many branches and piles of leaves all over our yard.
I was thinking how most of my friends in UB didn't have the luxury of raking leaves to clear their yards. Most still have dirt that quickly turns to mud at the sight of rain. There is still trash and debris stuck in their yards. It's not safe for their kids. Cutting a few trees would never begin to put their yards back together.
Then I thought how their traditions were also washed away with the storm. Grandmoms china, moms awesome recipes and holiday linens were soaked and ruined. That silly easter basket you have used your whole life gone.
How strong my new friends are. They are navigating a new way of life. New traditions, new homes, new schools and new jobs. Most lost all of their precious pictures of their families. But something that they know did not get washed away was their memories.
