CAI-NJ March 2017

39 / 64

39
M A R C H , 2 0 1 7
212 Hooper Avenue
Toms River, NJ 08753
800-991-9279
As community association attorneys, we are committed
to providing efficient, sound and distinguished
representation to homeowner and condo associations
in New Jersey. We pride ourselves on our ability to
blend our years of experience with a time-tested
understanding of how to get things done.
WHEN IT COMES TO
HOMEOWNER ASSOCIATION GOVERNANCE...
out. In temperatures that average 135
degrees, anything cool is better than
gold. And when the ice machines go
down, and drinking water is rationed,
and you haven’t slept or showered for
a few days morale is low. It takes some-
one of mental strength to deliberately
search for something they can hold
onto to get them through the months at
sea between liberties. Wil did this. To
occupy his mind, he took every qual-
ification he could and ended up with
more than most with his rank. He also
took some college classes when they
flew instructors onto the ship. To escape,
he would call or write home. And when
communications were shut down due to
operations, he wrote in a notebook to
exercise that world out of his head.
Wil found coping mechanisms not
just to get him through the stressful and
challenging times but to make him-
self emotionally and psychologically
stronger. He now takes responsibility
when things don’t work out as he
wanted. Gone are the excuses and
in their stead are possible solutions.
Equally, gone is the boy and in his
stead is a man any would be proud
to call son. His senior chiefs must also
have noticed the maturity in Wil for
not only did they charge him with
training during deployment he was
flown home as one of 250 excellent
seamen out of over 5,000. He took
a military plane, a train, and a bus to
get home totaling 39 hours of travel
without sleep. His homecoming was
a surprise I will never forget and for
which I will always be grateful. But it
wasn’t until he had been home for five
days and I heard him laugh for the
first time since he’d been home that I
knew my son was back. n