IREM president's message: A time to be thankful

By Frank Socci, Jr., CPM Now that the holiday season is upon us, it's a bit difficult to find the usual joy in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The entire east coast has been left to pick up the pieces after her wrath. For those that have suffered damage to their homes, cars, or personal possessions, loss of power and the majority of us that endured the grueling task of trying to find the shortest gas line, nothing compares to the loss of life. Everyone, no matter how dim the light may appear at the end of the tunnel at times, should be thankful for life - the ability to move on from a catastrophe and rebuild. I never thought I would find myself amongst the people that are able to recount a horror story from a natural disaster, but I am, and it has put everything into perspective for me and I hope it will for you as well. On the Sunday prior to the storm, my two sons, my friend John Filipowicz, his son John Jr., and I attended the Jets v. Dolphins football game at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, something we have done for nearly 15 years. As if the terrible loss to the Miami Dolphins wasn't enough, we continued our complaining about the defeat in the parking lot, hugged one another goodbye, and wished each other luck with the impending storm. Two days later I received a phone call that my good friend John and his son John Jr. tragically died during the storm. Who would have ever thought that one could consider themselves "lucky" after experiencing what some have called the storm of the century. I was lucky, I survived. In the days subsequent to the storm, my company has fielded hundreds of phone calls from residents that live in some of our managed properties that were directly hit by the storm. Fortunately, most of our communities have been working together, not against one another, to rise above the devastation and move forward. Although the future may seem grim for some, we tell our displaced residents that as long as they're ok and their families are ok, everything will be repaired and they will be able to go home soon. If this storm has taught me anything, as I'm sure it has for many others, power comes back, gas lines diminish, and foundations can be rebuilt. With the holiday's rounding the corner we all have a lot to be thankful for, and the time that can be spent with family and friends is always the most precious time. Frank Socci, Jr., CPM is the president of IREM Greater New York chapter and is a principal at NAI Long Island, Melville, N.Y.