All week I have been catching glimpses of the horrific events happening on the East Coast.  Hurricane Sandy morphed into Super Storm Sandy just in time for Halloween and crashed into the East Coast.  Justin & I have a few friends that live in NYC and Boston and my uncle and his family live in Southern Maryland.  There were moments where Facebook assured me that they were OK.  Amazing how something so trivial can put your mind at ease in the middle of a natural disaster.  Now, I’m sure their minds weren’t at ease, but they knew they could reach their family & friends even when the phone lines were tied up or disconnected up and down the coast.

This storm has taken numerous lives and will cost billions of dollars to rebuild the areas affected.  I urge everyone to donate blood with the Red Cross to help with all the drives that were cancelled.  You can always donate a couple dollars to help provide families with food & shelter while their lives are being pieced back together.  
Most importantly, I urge everyone to get out there and get to know your neighbors.  You never know when you could be in a situation like this where you need to know where the elderly people on your block are, so you can assist them.  Knowing that the 4 year old down the street is allergic to peanuts will help you keep an eye on the food that is handed out to make sure there isn’t a health scare.  Knowing that your neighbor struggles with diabetes and might need insulin could save a life.  Just knowing these people a little will help bring you together with them in times of struggle.  Looking through the photos and the videos of these neighborhoods that have been destroyed reminds me that at any time, everything you know and call home could be gone.
Justin’s childhood friend, Dave, lives in Astoria and actually escaped much damage to their personal belongings.  His wife, Giana, posted on Facebook on Tuesday “If any of our NYC friends need any help, whether it be a ride, cleaning up, or anything else you can think of, we are in a good position to help over here as long as it is safe for us to get to you!”  It is those kinds of people that make this country so resilient.  
We are sending lots of Minnesota love to the people on the east coast as they begin this journey of putting things back where they belong.  Our prayers & thoughts are with everyone that lost something during that storm.  
The following photos were ones from CNN’s website. 
A Parking Lot in New Jersey
Half of Manhattan lost power
The Empire State Building 
Lake Erie – Sandy made it to the Midwest
This is not a new boat sharing program – these are people yards…
And last but not least, I want to thank Andy Cohen.  Even though the world was falling apart around him, he went live that evening from the Bravo Clubhouse all alone and made anyone watching laugh hysterically.  I can’t get enough of Bravo…