For some reason, I woke up this morning thinking about what I was doing at this time 2 years ago. For months after Hurricane Sandy hit, no matter the weather... I spent almost all of my free time over in Ortley Beach with the Bucket Brigade and Cassandra Vitale. Cassandra, a longtime school friend of my daughter, started this amazing grassroots organization to help people in the worst of times. From the very first days, Cassandra was there... bringing homemade soup, clean, dry socks, and basic necessities (such as toothpaste, shaving cream)  to the men stationed amidst the disaster area. That led into us hanging out on corners, handing out cleaning supplies (buckets, bleach, gloves, masks) to shell-shocked  residents, coming "home" for the first time since the hurricane...Slowly, more people were getting involved to help, (I couldn't begin to remember and name everyone, but Tom Petruzziello was a huge part of this organization) which led to taking over the damaged EMS building... to having 5 trailers full of donated supplies in the A&P parking lot.. the Bucket Brigade was there, from day one.... providing meals, supplies, moral support, having a fire burning for warmth and a place to hang out and talk... to feel "normal" for a little while, when, really, nothing would ever be "normal" again for some people.

I remembered how good it made me feel to be a part of that. How heartbreaking it was listening to the stories of the people affected by this storm. Hugging strangers. How amazing the people around me were. How, as time went on, people and organizations came from far and wide to help out...Americorps started sending long term volunteers. There were weekends that we had HUNDREDS of volunteers.. youth groups, high school kids, elementary school kids, people who suffered their own loss in the hurricane, yet still willing to help those that were worse off, shoveling sand, working in people's homes, organizing relief. The Aroy-D Thai Elephant food truck that came to hand out free hot meals, the first hot meals on the island since the storm, they came all the way from north Jersey!! It really renewed that sense of community that is lacking so often these days.

And who could forget the images of what Hurricane Sandy did to New Jersey, New York. How far reaching the damage was. But nothing mesmerized me more than the newspaper aerial image of the Jet star sitting in the Atlantic Ocean. I don't know why, but that was just incredible to me! That a storm was capable of picking up this roller coaster, and setting in down in the ocean. Just taking the pier out from under it! I understood that entire houses were gone, bridges, roads... but this roller coaster looked virtually untouched, except for the fact that it was in the ocean!!

The photographer in me had to see this for myself! I was in awe the first time I caught sight of it. It was just sitting there, the waves moving as usual, as if it had been put there on purpose from the beginning. As if, come summer, you could wait on a line to ride the Atlantic Ocean's Jet star.

The day that this image was taken, I decided to get up early, and try to get there before the sun came up. I didn't even know if I could get close to it. There were barricades all over at that time. You couldn't just drive down to the beach anymore and take a walk.. But I knew of a place where I could access the beach, and hopefully not get thrown off! There were a handful of other people there, mainly photographers, waiting for the sun to rise. As we waited, a police officer approached. I felt immediate disappointment. I only wanted to stay long enough to get a shot. As he walked closer, he said "good morning", and walked past us to take his own picture of the roller coaster! I literally "laughed out loud" from relief. He just wanted the same thing we all wanted.

This image, of the Jet star at sunrise, is the epitome of Hurricane Sandy, and the people affected by it. That need to believe that the sun will always rise, there will always be another day, a new day to start again. Keep moving forward, just keep moving.

As I am thinking about this, today.. I check my email to find out that this image was given an award... it made the top 5% for the year in News Images.. I was extremely honored to receive that award... but feel torn at the same time. Such tragedy producing an award winning image. But that is how news works. As I have done since first putting these images up... any income generated from them gets donated back into the Hurricane Sandy relief effort; because even now, 2 years later, there are still people displaced from that storm... and that should not be. Not in this country.