Sunday, December 10, 2017
In memory of Sandy, I submitted this story. I met Sandy “down the shore” in Belmar before we were teenagers. We had a lot in common: the oldest of 3 siblings, living in a 3 generation summer place, and we were avid readers. Our friendship grew over the years; each year we hung out together most of the summer; in high school, there were more frequent visits to Bayonne and Union. Sandy was smart, outgoing and very popular with boys. It was always fun to get together. Though our contact became less frequent in college as we spent less and less time in Belmar, we really reconnected when we became new mothers and I was living in New Jersey. I knew Robyn and Judd from the time they were very small. I have very fond memories of having Mexican food in Long Branch with them, Sandy and my two boys when the children were pretty young until they were in high school. I got to know Little Silver and my boys and I spent time at Sandy’s nearby beach club. When the children grew up, Sandy and I would spend part of our summer days shopping as well as going to the beach and walking the boardwalk. We talked about our children and pretty much everything else. We never lost touch as years passed. We went through a stage in which Sandy would meet my husband and I for dinner while we were in Belmar. Then it became coffee and a visit to Steinmart’s. Sandy was inevitably late. In recent years, Sandy would come to the Belmar house and we would sit on the porch and talk. Our friendship changed over the years. I have great memories of Sandy as a teenager and as a 30-something suburbanite. I remember lots of good times. I remember her when she was happy and I cherish the fond memories of her.
