One year after deadly Texas floods, Hill Country proves grief can't wash away grit

A year ago this summer, on July 4, floodwaters rose in the dark in the Texas Hill Country and did not stop. By morning, 139 people across the Hill Country were gone: 119 of them in Kerr County. Many were neighbors and friends; others had come to experience its beauty.

Like so many families across our community, my life was changed forever by the flood, and the anniversary we mark this month is deeply personal.

A year later, there are empty seats at dinner tables. There are families marking anniversaries they never wanted to face.