Nick Bizzoco of Oceanport made sure to grab a sweet treat after every walk he made in memory of his wife, Marie, stopping to have ice cream at shops on or near the boardwalks he strolled. COURTESY NICK BIZZOCO
By Emily Schopfer
OCEANPORT – Nicholas and Marie Bizzoco of Oceanport were married for close to three decades. After Marie passed away Dec. 29, 2025, at age 78 from lung cancer, her husband decided to do something to both help him cope with his grief and honor his late wife, creating for himself the unofficial Marie Bizzoco Memorial Boardwalk Walking Challenge.
Over the span of 12 weeks this summer, the 83-year-old Bizzoco walked 12 boardwalks from Long Branch to Seaside Heights, one per week.
“We really were so very close,” he said. “She would’ve really liked for me to do this.”
Throughout his walks, although Marie was not physically there with him, Bizzoco said he felt her presence.
While Marie didn’t walk often due to health and breathing issues, Bizzoco said she “always loved the ocean.” She “loved living near it… loved being close to the water,” and her connection to the water inspired Bizzoco to create this challenge.
“I thought it was fitting,” he said. When Marie was alive, the couple took short walks or drives along the water and shared a love of ice cream, which Bizzoco made sure to include in his boardwalk challenge, stopping to grab a sweet treat at the end of every walk.
The challenge ended the week of Aug. 16; out of the 12 boardwalks he walked, Bizzoco said his favorite, and the one that most reminded him of Marie, was in Point Pleasant Beach. It is “a real family beach, and she was really into family,” he said. The couple had a large blended family; each had children from prior marriages. Ironically, both parents would take their children to Point Pleasant Beach in Ocean County when they were young.
Bizzoco said the children were very excited when they heard about his challenge idea because he had become reclusive following Marie’s death. Bizzoco documented his walks for their children, sharing photos and selfies along the way.
Although still dealing with grief, he said the challenge was a healthy way for him to cope. Originally, it just helped him get out of the house and stay active, but the walks soon “evolved into something that really energized me,” and something Bizzoco looked forward to every week.
To create the challenge, Bizzoco used ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence software program. While Bizzoco said he could have worked out the challenge himself, having AI create and organize the routes lessened some of the mental and emotional weight.
Now that the first iteration of the challenge is over, Bizzoco said he is unsure whether he will do it annually. He will likely find another way to honor his wife, he said, perhaps by taking a trip via train into New York City. “She loved going into the city,” he said, where both of them were born and raised. “Although we didn’t go back as much as we would’ve liked,” Bizzoco said, he and Marie often did drive into the city around the holidays to stroll down Fifth Avenue, delighting in the decorated windows and shops and seeing the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.
In the meantime, Bizzoco said he will continue attending sessions at Stephy’s Place, stephysplace.org a Red Bank nonprofit centered around grief counseling. He started attending these sessions in February and said the organization has been extremely helpful for him, especially around Marie’s birthday, Aug. 28.
During one group session, which takes place every other week, Bizzoco posed the question: “How do you deal with your deceased’s first birthday?” He said the session leader told him to have plans A, B and C. In other words, have a plan for if you feel good, have a plan if the grief becomes too much, and have a plan for everything in between.
This article originally appeared in the September 10-16, 2026 print edition of The Two River Times.
