By Michele Foulke and Justine Dinardolim
Michele Foulke wanted to get away to LBI. Her husband, Bob, had passed two years ago and September 18th would have been their thirtieth wedding anniversary.
Not wanting to be alone, Michele asked her cousin, Justine DiNardo Lim, to join her. Justine was grieving as well. There had been so much loss in the past few years; Michele’s father, Bobby, in 2019, her husband, Bob, in 2019, and then her Aunt Doris, Justines’s mother. The cousins are very close. They supported each other through it all.
Michele and her mom, Diane Vagianos, booked rooms for the weekend at Hotel LBI. Diane found an article about the Green Bench in an edition of Echoes of LBI Magazine that was in her room at Hotel LBI. She insisted that Michele and Justine find the bench to sit and reflect. The cousins agreed that this was something they would do together. However, the article did not list where the bench was located, only that it was at the top of the beach in Ship Bottom.
So, on September 18th Michele and Justine started at 28th Street and went to each beach entrance looking for the bench. When they took a break Justine called the magazine and left a message. They received a return call with the location along with a request that they take a photo of themselves at the bench for the magazine. And that is where the fun part of their journey began. With both of them sitting on the bench there was no one to take the photo. So, they propped up a cell phone and set the timer on the camera. They tried a few times. But each time — just as it was ready to shoot the photo — the phone fell to the ground. Michele insisted it was her husband, Bob, causing the phone to fall. Now, instead of sadness, Michele and Justine could not stop laughing.
You see; reflection, grief, or whatever this bench brings you is peace and a moment in time where you are not alone; your loved ones are always around you.
