The Bayhead House has been a home to my family since 1945. My Gigi’s grandmother was a strong, intelligent business woman who worked hard to prove that women can be just as successful as men, if not more successful. Gigi’s grandmother worked quietly under the radar to save up money to send her three daughters to secretary school. 
When Gigi’s mother, Grace, and her sisters, Marie and Helen, all graduated school, Gigi’s grandmother told them each to buy themselves a fur coat and diamond rings because you never know if you’ll get them if you don’t do it yourself. The girls each bought their fur coats and diamond rings with three diamonds, to represent their sisterhood. Gigi’s mother and aunts went on to become successful secretaries with a goal of buying a house for their parents. Growing up, my Gigi’s grandmother saved up money to rent different houses along the Jersey Shore. When the girls eventually saved up enough of their own money, they purchased the Bayhead House for six thousand five hundred dollars. 
At that time, women couldn’t legally buy a home without a man to co-sign until 1974 after the Equal Credit Opportunity Act was passed. The house had to be put in their father’s name, regardless of if the girls purchased it. Gigi’s grandmother went on to own her own real-estate company at the end of the Great Depression. The business was sold to her for $250, and she became the legal owner. Customers would come in and ask for the owner, she would simply respond by saying, “He’s not here right now, but I can help you!” 
	These four women made this home into a reality for our family for generations. I owe them my relationships with each person who stayed there. They inspire me daily, just as this home did, and always will.