We had a very eventful weekend. My husband's sister announced her engagement and set the date for June 6th, 2009! We are very excited because we all like the her fiancee very much. We decided to go with them to the beach on Sunday even though we woke up to rain. We live close to Sandy Hook beach so we thought we would give it a shot in case the storm should happen to pass.

It was only drizzling by the time we reached the shore so we decided to go all the way. When we approached the ticket booth we saw there was no one inside so we were so happy we did not have to pay for parking! Everyone was leaving so we knew we would get a good spot. When we got out of the car we noticed a family or a group of friends standing on top of the walkway down to the beach just standing still and staring down at something going on by the water. We all looked at each other and wondered what it could be. We decided to walk down to check it out. We could tell something was wrong right away and then a minute later a rescue mobile came behind us and drove onto the beach down to the water. We noticed some bodies just laying still and a very upset man laying on the sand. My sister-in-law is a nurse so she ran down to see if they needed help. We later found out that they were all struck by lightning and one man passed away. He was only 38! We could not believe it.

We did not know at the time if they were in the water when they were hit or lying on the sand. I found a report stating that they were just lying on the sand when they were hit. We were all in disbelief for awhile but happy we were safe. Our nephew was with us so we made sure that he knew to get out of the water as soon as he hears thunder. I was a lifeguard at one time and we were always told to make sure no one enters the water at least thirty minutes after the last sound of thunder or the last sight of lightning. Lightning strikes can be so unexpected.