By DIANA STULGA

In 1962 I was just 7 years old. Life was good. My Aunt Jean and Uncle Pete had just retired to Long Beach Island. They had sold their home in Harrison and decided to head south after many years of living “up north.” They especially loved being surrounded by water, having the bay at one end of their street and the ocean at the other end. They had no idea how soon this beautiful place that they called “God’s country” or “a little bit of heaven” was about to change (temporarily)!

My dad was following the news on TV about a storm of all storms that was bearing down the East Coast, causing major…