HOME.
The word conjures a host of emotions.
For me, HOME is the heart of the #txhillcountry , #kerrcounty , #kerrville Texas.
And right now, nearing the first anniversary of the July 4th floods of 2025, HOME is bringing up even more emotions than usual.
When your community has survived a natural disaster, a worldwide news story, and a historic event, HOME is forever changed.
We mark time here as to BEFORE and AFTER (the flood). We see landscapes in our minds’ eyes that no longer match what we see with our physical eyes on our everyday commutes. We categorize the floodplain as PRE- and POST-July 4, 2025. We are branded “survivor” or “victim” but no one is labeled “untouched” or “unaffected.” We divide the living and the dead.
One year later, and “HOME” still aches with a grief too sharp for words.
And yet, HOME is still where we embrace one another. It’s where we ask total strangers, “y’all ok?” It’s where we emerged from the storm with bottled waters, meals, hugs, prayers, chainsaws, kayaks, and canines…and we sweated and mucked and wept. And we still do.
HOME is where we showed up for one another. It’s where the world showed up for us.
Change one tiny letter in HOME and you end up with HOPE.
One year later, HOPE has come HOME.
Nicki
Expressively HIS ... 