Irish Restore the Shore
“Love life. Engage in it. Give it all you’ve got. Love it with a passion because life truly does give back, many times over, what you put into it.”
-Maya Angelou
In the most recent of my life adventures, I was fortunate enough to fly out to the Garden State, courtesy of Notre Dame Athletics, to participate in a service trip in the shore town of Sayreville, NJ. Together with some ND student-athletes and a handful of New Jersey ND Alumni Club members, we worked alongside parishioners from Our Lady of Victories to restore parts of the town that are still feeling the effects of Hurricane Sandy.
.
I’m going to take a moment here to pause and mention how awesome my job is. It is capital ‘A’ Awesome.
.
While in New Jersey, so many things happened in such a short period of time that I’m struggling to find a starting point in which to properly recap this trip. The memories feel like a swarm of hyperactive fireflies buzzing circles around my head and all I’m equip with to catch them is a tennis racket.
.
So, as I attempt to wrangle my thoughts, I’ll let YouTube introduce you to Rich (Sayreville resident, Elton John fan, a self-described ‘Polish Ironman’ and most importantly, our Irish Restore the Shore project manager) …
Rich is, in one word… awesome!
.
Rich and his family lost their home in the storm. It was submerged under 9 ft of water.
.
His enthusiasm as project manager and his personal experiences fueled us to tackle a ton of projects over the weekend. Yard care, debris removal, helping families relocate belongings, you name it, Rich had us doing it.
.
The only time I didn’t see Rich ferociously (and a tad recklessly) weed-wacking with a grin plastered wide across his face was when he recounted the days shortly after the storm for us. He spoke about sifting through a pile of donated clothes, looking for something to wear after losing many of his belongings in the hurricane, and happening upon a sweatshirt from his high school. In a uncharacteristically quiet moment for Rich, he took a second to himself and collected his feelings.
.
It’s peculiar how certain instances in our lives, especially moments of adversity, stick with us. How the strangest of details become the lynchpins of our feelings. It was as if that sweatshirt, appearing in that very moment of his life is where Rich will always hang the hat he wore the days Hurricane Sandy washed through his community.
.
When Rich would release our crew for the day, sending us all off with hugs of course, my co-worker Sarah and I were blessed to kick our feet up at the Casa de Caldwell’s, home to the Notre Dame Club of Central New Jersey VP, Ed Caldwell, his wife Debbie, and their two sons, Chris & Pat. Apparently ‘vibrant personality’ is a genetic predisposition in the Caldwell family as everyone had ethos as big as their hearts, all of which, size-wise, rivaled Macy Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons. Thoughtful conversation, laughter and bacon were all in abundance throughout the weekend with the Caldwell’s and I don’t think I could have dreamt of a better place to call home for those few days.
.
The trip came with its small share of disappointments, but they are but small imperfections in the larger body of work that turned out so beautiful.
.
During mass Saturday night at Our Lady of Victories, as the organist softly played the Notre Dame Alma Mater, Ed nudged me to look behind us at the giant, circular stain glassed window in the back of the church. Its colors were ablaze from the sun setting outside. It was absolutely gorgeous.
.
I think that moment is my own personal lynchpin for the weekend, the firefly of a memory I was able to grab hold of. It’s where I’ll hang the hat I wore my days in Sayreville, NJ.
.
.
.
Huge thanks goes out to ND for allowing me to do these sort of events for a living, all the kind alumni who showed up and, of course, the good folks of Sayreville, NJ!
