09/03/2026
Happy birthday to my Nana. ❤️
I found this picture today. This was taken at the Bel-Air Motel in Point Pleasant Beach, the motel my Pop Pop somehow found a way to buy after starting out in Newark, becoming an electrician and building a business and a life for his family. Almost 60 years later, that same motel is still in our family, now the Amethyst Beach Motel.
My Pop Pop passed away when I was little, but God, did that man love me. I may not have gotten nearly enough years with him, but I have always remembered how loved he made me feel.
And then there was my Nana. After he passed, she ran that motel for years, and when I say ran it, I mean RAN IT. Like a freaking sergeant. There were rules. There were pool hours. And you absolutely were not going to test Nana on either.
As I get older, I find myself wishing I had known them as adults. That I could sit with them now and ask a million questions about their lives, how they built everything, what they went through, and hear all the stories I was too young to know to ask.
But looking at this picture, I know one thing for sure: I was very, very loved.
Happy birthday, Nana. ❤️ And Pop Pop, I still miss you.
Pretty incredible that something you two started all those years ago is still part of our family story today. 🌺