J Is For Jersey Boy

Back in our younger years, my husband and I moved across country courtesy of the Coast Guard.   When he was in 'A' school, we carefully went over the units that were available, and based on the fact that we'd been together less than 6 non-consecutive months of our first year of marriage, our number one goal was a unit that would allow him to be stationed shore side and home most nights.

That narrowed our choice down to one: Sandy Hook, New Jersey.  I was worried that our chance of getting  his top pick was slim, but he said it was Jersey, it wasn't on anyone's top pick.  That was their loss and our gain!

As with most big, life changing choices, this idea seemed great and no big deal until we actually started to drive ourselves away from our home and families.  We arrived in New Jersey in August, homesick, exhausted from a cross country drive, and sweaty-sticky due to no a/c in our little car.  We were rumbled, sunburned, nervous, but as we followed the directions to the base and drove through the National Park that is Sandy Hook, with the ocean on both sides of the spit of land, with sandy beaches and the hot Jersey sun, we got excited.  This was going to be a really cool place to live.

This marked the start of our Jersey years and what a wonderful couple of years that was!  We made so many memories, had so many adventures exploring the state and traveling up and down the coast from Prince Edward Island to Delaware, but the best one of  all was having a little Jersey Boy of our own.

Our son was born in New Jersey and breathed in that wonderful ocean air from the first days of his life.  He teethed on east coast pizza crusts and took some of his first steps on sandy beaches with a view of New York City.  He might not look like he comes from the Jersey Shore, but he does.

We wouldn't have it any other way!