Niagara Falls

I went on a trip to Niagara Falls (U.S. and Canada)  March 8-11.  I wanted to go since I was 7 - I remember someone going over the falls in a barrel.  I wanted to do that! (not thinking I could get hurt)  I love the water and what better way to see the falls!!!  I figured I could be famous at the age of 7!!  Well I'm not 7 - in fact I'm 53 years old.  When we got to the falls late Friday I realized that maybe going over the falls in a barrel was not a good idea. . . at least in the winter.  The river was frozen below.  The Maid of the Mist boats were all out of the water and stored on land away from the hundreds of feet of frozen water. 

We could not believe the thunder of the rushing water.  I loved it immediately.  It was exciting and scary all at once.  On Saturday my husband and I drove to Canada.  I was surprised that crossing the border was like waiting in traffic to pay a toll on the Garden State Parkway!   We drove down by the falls and could really see all of the falls.  The U.S. only gets a glimps of them in the winter because most of the park is frozen and closed for safety.  Gosh there is an incredible amount of ice 50 to more than 100 ft high!

I woke up Sunday feelling out of sorts and very weepy.  I wasn't sure what was up til we got a message that my mom had died.  I will bring my kids back to the falls to make new memories.  I don't want that to be the place to remember my mom dying.

I guess that's how Union Beach is.  The place where their town was almost washed off the map by Hurricane Sandy.  

They throw the word Hope around town - it is a blanket of comfort.  A blanket to cover up their pain.  A blanket that helps them all put their feet on the ground each morning to move.