The post on the “Caring Bridge” website was sobering.

“Kinley, the baby girl in the room directly across from Lily is being taken off the list today. They are turning off all machines. Kinley will die today. Surely she will be a guardian angel for the other children on the unit. Please pray for her family.”

The post came from Lily’s parents, Michael and Cheyenne. Lily is their 9-month-old daughter who was born with CMV, a common virus that causes chickenpox and shingles.

It’s harmless unless the baby is infected before birth. If that’s the case, the child can develop serious health problems. In Lily’s case, this cruel and silent virus destroyed the left side of her heart.

Michael and Cheyenne found themselves in a New Orleans hospital a few weeks ago receiving news that would devastate any parent – their baby daughter needed a heart transplant or she wouldn’t make it.

Most of us never have to face a life-and-death operation like this for our children. I cannot imagine what those young parents felt like as they watched their daughter struggle to live.

In Lily’s case, a human heart became available almost immediately, and Lily became a donor recipient. In the midst of their joy, Michael and Cheyenne asked for prayers for the family who’d lost their child.

Lily’s been slowly improving since the transplant, and we all feel a mixture of elation for Michael and Cheyenne and admiration for all the heartbreaking decisions they’ve had to make in the last four months.

Before I had children, I dreamed of all the fun activities we’d have together – dressing up for holidays, coloring together and going to the park to fly kites. It never occurred to me that along with the fun times would also come tough situations.

Those include frantic trips to the hospital emergency room and the terror a high fever brings when it’s 2 a.m. and you’re the one your baby is depending on to take care of business.

Parents face hundreds of unexpected moments in their child’s life, the ones where things are normal one minute and hanging in the balance the next.

Those start the minute they get here, and we kid ourselves into thinking the day will come when we’ll no longer worry about our offspring.

When they’re infants and cry inconsolably, we worry because we don’t know what’s wrong. Those nights last forever, as do the nights when they’re young children and they’re crying because of a stomach ache.

Then there are the nights when they’re adolescents, worried about their appearance or that they don’t have any friends. They turn into teens, and we worry about drugs, alcohol and premarital sex.

Every day, parents wonder where they’re going to find the strength to be an effective mom or dad. The parenting books don’t mention what to do about a tired that seeps through your bones.

They don’t offer solutions to feeling like you want to scream at the top of your lungs in frustration. They don’t tell you what to do when you receive news that your child could be facing a terrifying health issue and you have to make difficult decisions.

Books don’t tell parents what to do when they grapple for the answers with every ounce of strength in their bodies. We ask friends, family and experts to help us make a decision, but our children, whether they’re 9 months old or facing mid-life, are where we find the answers.

With one hug and one smile, we find the strength to go on without a moments’ hesitation and know that the tough decision is usually the right one. Because no matter what cards we’re dealt when a child is put into our arms, we will play that hand and never, ever fold.

In Michael and Cheyenne’s case, they’ve always known they had a winning hand with Baby Lily who’s getting better every day, thanks to a difficult decision another set of parents had to make.

They found the strength to give the gift of life to another child. And for that heart-wrenching decision, we are eternally grateful.

This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.

Driving home from work today, my little sedan battling ferocious winds, the meteorologist on the radio confirmed my suspicion – colder temperatures are barreling toward southeast Texas.

After a brutal summer of 100-plus degree temperatures and a lingering and crippling drought, most people would be glad the temperatures are dipping into the upper 40’s over the next few nights.

Not me.

I grew up near Buffalo, N.Y., living with snow for six months out of the year. After we moved to the South, my blood thinned out, and I cannot take cold temperatures anymore. I thrive in the summer and whine my way through the winter.

When cold weather does roll into town, it means I have to find the few winter items I own. I put off hauling out those cold-temperature clothes until the mercury hits 50. According to the weatherman, the day of reckoning has arrived.

Sighing, I started rifling through my closet to see where I stand. I have a pair of blue jeans I wear in the summer and the winter. They’re light-weight denim because I refuse to wear pants that weigh more than a bag of potatoes.

Underneath the jeans I discover my favorite winter clothes – sweat pants. Avant-garde fashion designers turn their noses up at sweat pants, but I don’t know what I’d do without my baggy sweats to get me through the winter.

One pair is gray, and they’re worn on the knees, but quite serviceable. The other pair is blue, still decorated with the beige paint I used on my son’s bedroom about 10 years ago and the silver paint I used on my youngest boy’s bedroom five years earlier. Both go on top of the winter pile.

Let’s see – there’s a couple of pairs of black jeans in the back of the closet I can wear to dress up, so I should be all set in the pants department.

Now for shirts – I wear T-shirts year round because I avoid long-sleeved shirts like the plague. The cuffs somehow find their way in my lunch and serve as a magnet for every speck of dust and dirt I walk past.

That’s probably an exaggeration, but I’ve come up with a reason why I dislike winter clothes.

Sweaters are too itchy, turtlenecks are too suffocating and scarves, well, they’re just too frou-frou. Usually I throw a sweater over my T-shirts because I can toss that aside, and I run fast from my car to the front door so I avoid wearing a jacket.

There is one area, though, where I can’t avoid the winter fashions – shoes.

Oh how I miss my summer shoes in the winter. Summer footwear consists of lively colors, breezy open toes and slip-ons in every color of the rainbow.

For some reason, shoe manufacturers think all women love to wear boots in the winter, and store shelves are filled with dozens of boots in two colors – black and brown.

Unfortunately, I have thin calves, and my legs roll around in boots like a 5-year-old playing dress up, so I’m stuck buying sensible winter shoes that look like something my first grade teacher, Sister Adrian wore.

Reluctantly I dragged out a pair of black and brown tie-up shoes and wistfully tossed my sandals in the back of the closet.

But in every cold cloud there’s a silver lining.

Socks.

Because winter clothes are so drab, I have socks in every color of the rainbow. Of course, most of them have holes in the toes and heels, but I don’t care. Those dowdy winter shoes cover up the holes, and I love having some color in my wardrobe when it’s stark and bare outside.

Even though it’s blustery outside, hope springs eternal in we warm-blooded creatures. I’m going to leave out a few summer clothes for those warm winter days and circle the vernal equinox, March 20, 2012, on my calendar.

I want to be ready to walk out the door wearing my shorts, T-shirts and sandals when those hot-and-humid Texas temperatures finally return.

This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.

My mailbox stays filled with sales fliers, postcards from digital television companies wanting our business and, my favorite, magazines.

Curling up on the couch with a magazine is a great way to relax, and I love any kind of magazine which is probably the reason I get about six different publications every month.

When I was young, I remember flipping through the beautiful “Life” and “Look” magazines my grandparents had on their coffee table, and I was fascinated by the black-and-white war photos and those of the Kennedy family.

The boys always snickered when flipping through “National Geographic.” They were only looking for the pictures of naked tribes people.

But “National Geographic” wasn’t about exploitation – the magazine was and is about introducing people to the wonders of the world through stunningly beautiful photographs.

The covers are just a sampling of the wonders inside the pages. Nowhere else can one see such fantastic pictures of majestic mountains, hidden lakes and the open plains that make Earth such a beautiful planet.

The stories are extremely well written, and the authors not only describe geography, they give readers a glimpse of how people and animals live, think and survive. These wordsmiths – often writing on a laptop from an igloo or a hut – can make the life cycles of fleas and the Incas equally interesting.

A magazine I’ve subscribed to for over 20 years is “Better Homes and Gardens.” My mom had a well-used copy of the BHG red-checked cookbook in the kitchen and getting the magazine seemed appropriate as I headed off into adulthood.

Although I still enjoy the magazine, most of the decorating articles are for people who love stark contemporary homes, and the gardening articles are geared toward the northeast or the Pacific Coast.

Few of us south of the Mason-Dixon line can grow lilies of the valley in our gardens nor can we leave cushions on outdoor furniture – the mildew, brutal heat or the dogs will make short work of those.

So, for the first time in two decades, I’m letting my subscription lapse because I want to read something that has meaning to me.

Hence the reason “Southern Living” is at the top of my favorite magazine reading list. The articles are about the South – grits and ham hocks, azaleas and pine trees and buttermilk biscuits. There aren’t feature stories about multi-million dollar mansions on the Pacific coast or how to protect the home against an ice storm.

The articles in “Southern Living” are about people who live with 100 percent humidity, year-round air conditioning, beauty salons and dominos.

Their readers are constantly searching for the best way to sprinkle Louisiana-grown Tabasco sauce over every dish at a back-yard barbecue and the best flea markets in Texas and Alabama.

Over the past few years, I’ve moved away from the magazines that concentrate on fashion and make-up. I’ve become a fan of practical magazines like “Real Simple” and Oprah Winfrey’s “O” magazine.

My friend, Pat, gave me a subscription to “O” right after the magazine started publication, and it’s been one of the best gifts I’ve ever received.

The layouts are creative, and the pictures are first rate. Fashion spreads feature clothes that fit the average gal who shops at Target and the mall, not a size 0 model wearing eight-inch heels and fishnet stockings.

The best part of any magazine, however, is the writing, and “Southern Living” and “O” feature talented authors who write from their hearts.

“Southern Living’s” Rick Bragg entertains readers with his thoughts on growing up with shrimp fests and crawfish boils, and “O” readers find articles from women who’ve overcome cancer, rebuilt after losing their home to a natural disaster or simply survived a teething toddler.

Oprah always closes the magazines with her thoughts, and she retains her connection with those of us who wrestle with static cling, extra pounds and whether or not we’re good enough.

Though the pages of magazines, we find our kindred souls and, through that connection, we know we’re not alone.

This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.

Most people can feel a cold coming on for days. There’s that nasty tickle in the back of the throat, the beginnings of a stuffy nose or the start of a mild cough.

Not me.

Whenever a cold strikes, it’s a sudden storm-the-beach assault by a legion of nasty viruses looking for someone to beat up. In a matter of hours, I am down for the count, losing the battle and not caring that the enemy’s winning.

Luckily, I don’t get sick very often and I’m back to normal in a day or so.

The trade off for not being sick long is that for those 24 hours, I feel like I’ve been mauled by a Mack truck that not only ran over me but then put that 18-wheeler into reverse and came back to finish the job.

My fever spikes, I ache all over and I’m hot and cold. But no matter how bad I feel, I always follow the same routine for getting over the crud quickly.

First, make room on the couch because staying on the couch is more comfortable than staying in bed.

With a cold washcloth on my head, a box of tissues hugged close to my chest and the remote control in my right hand, I become one with the couch while the battle rages.

I don’t want to talk to anyone. I want to be left alone with reruns of “I Love Lucy” and doze on and off until the cold or tummy virus runs its course.

The couch is where my sons camped out when they were sick, and they coped with being stuck on the couch quite differently than their mother.

They liked being pampered. I remember tucking blankets around them, getting their favorite pillow from their room and then constantly refilling water glasses and taking their temperature every hour because they were all was convinced their fever was high enough to require an emergency trip to the hospital.

And of course there was the moaning and groaning – them from the couch, me from the kitchen fulfilling their coughing request for a grilled cheese sandwich – cut in thirds, please – with chicken noodle soup and crackers or fruit and cubes of cheese, all served on their favorite tray.

This scenario only happened, of course, when they were really sick because all three of my sons tried to worm their way out of going to school at least once a week.

“Mom,” they’d croak from their rooms. “I’m sick.”

“Are you bleeding?”

“No.”

“Are you throwing up?”

“No.”

“Then get dressed,” I’d yell back to them. “You’re going to school.”

I’m sure that sounds mean, but I’d been duped by boys who tried every trick in the book to skip school. Over the years, I learned that my darling angels were sneaky.

My boys knew how to hold the thermometer close to the light bulb or run the thermometer under hot water when I was out of the room.

They knew to only spike the mercury to 100 – just enough to stay home for a day but not high enough to miss any real fun.

The fake act that usually works is the stomach ache. It’s hard to judge for sure if a teenager is lying about a stomach ache. But let’s face it – if they say they’re too sick to eat ice cream or Lucky Charms for breakfast, then they’re really sick.

Having sons who faked being sick is where I first came up with the couch as the best place to recuperate. They thought it so I could pamper them while they were in the throes of acute illness.

The real reason was to keep an eye on them, both to make sure they weren’t faking; and, if they really were sick, to watch over them until they felt better. I also told them they’d get better faster if they rested up on the couch.

So a few days ago, when my head started throbbing, the coughing started and I ached all over, I knew it was time to hibernate in the best spot for recuperating – the couch. And in 24 hours, I was as good as new.

Couch time – the best medicine around.

This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.

When people take personality tests, they’re asked to rate their habits to see if they’re guardians, nurturers, performers or givers.

I took one this past weekend, and I scored on the easy-going side. Because I fibbed on a few of the answers, the test reflected what I wanted it to say — extroverted and non-judgmental.

Until I looked in the linen closet.

My husband put away the towels, and they weren’t folded in thirds. The shelf is narrow, and the towels fit better if they’re folded in thirds versus in half.

I refolded the towels and the washcloths – the folded edge needs to be facing outwards – and lined up the extra bars of soap.

After I was sure the linen closet was tidy, I went back in the kitchen and, while rearranging the spices in the cabinet, told my husband how I’d scored on the quiz. He hid behind the newspaper.

“Well, I’m not particular about things, “I said, sensing his reluctance to talk about my score on the test.

“Except for the toilet paper,” he replied.

I’ll give him that one.

When I was a teenager, there was a major news story about an imminent truckers strike. Newscasters were warning people to stock up on canned foods and paper items.

For some reason, it struck me that the Winn Dixie could be out of toilet paper for months.

I made my mother buy at least 20 rolls of Charmin, and my dad thought my fretting was the funniest thing he’d ever heard.

So much, in fact, that he gave me a four-roll package of toilet paper for Christmas.

But that irrational fear has stuck with me. To this day, I always have at least 10 extra rolls of toilet tissue in the linen closet.

My husband cleared his throat again.

“And those pillows on the bed,” he said.

Well, of course, the pillows on the bed have to be lined up. If the smaller pillows are thrown on top of the bed in every which way, the bed looks messy and untidy.

“And don’t forget the pillows on the couch,” my husband added.

That’s not even being particular. Two pillows go on either end of the couch – coordinating patterns on either side, and the long pillow goes in the middle.

“Everybody’s picky about the couch pillows,” I said defensively.

“You’re right,” my husband said, a light touch of sarcasm in his voice. “You’re not at all particular about things, like for instance, folding the clothes.”

Okay, I will admit to having a particular way of folding clothes. First, they have to be folded within minutes of the dryer’s buzzer going off.

T-shirts are folded with the design facing up so that when I reach into the drawer, I can see exactly what’s on the front of the shirt before I pull it out.

And permanent press items must be hung up immediately after being removed from the dryer.

“If you don’t hang the shirts up right away, they’ll wrinkle,” I said, refolding the towels in the kitchen drawer.

My husband went back to reading the paper, asking if I was going to leave the dishes in the sink overnight since I wasn’t so particular.

“Are you kidding?” I said, looking at him as if he’d grown two heads. “And face that mess in the morning.”

Then it hit me.

I’m that curmudgeon who reads the newspaper from back to front, checks the clock radio every single night to make sure the volume’s at the right level for the morning alarm and separates the dinner forks from the salad forks in the kitchen drawer.

I’m the minus 10 on the personality quiz.

Tonight I’m going to live dangerously and leave the dishes in the sink, forget about rearranging the pillows on the couch and leave the clothes in the dryer overnight.

This deluded person – who fudges on a magazine personality quiz so she’s not in the bottom half of the answer sheet in the back of the magazine – just might break the mold and run with scissors, drink milk out of the carton and leave the top off the peanut butter jar over night.

Look out world. Change is a-comin.

This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.

Note the address for the McBride’s is 13330, not 1330. I need to proof my numbers better!! Thanks and please do support Kevin and Dana. They are truly angels on this earth.

When we talk about heroes, often a larger-than-life person comes to mind – the firefighter who dashes into a burning building to rescue a child or the solder who puts his or her life on the line in a war zone.

It’s easy to overlook heroes in our midst, those who are presented with an overwhelming obstacle and then rise to meet that challenge with dignity and grace. Such is the case with Kevin and Dana McBride.

I first met the McBrides almost 10 years ago after hearing about a penny drive at Austin Elementary entitled Chandler’s Tree Farm. My first thought was the students were collecting money to plant trees on the school property.

That assumption was wrong. The school was collecting pennies to benefit the children on the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at Texas Children’s Hospital.

One of the students, Chelsea McBride, had a toddler brother, Chandler, who’d gone through two bone marrow transplants, chemotherapy and radiation at Texas Children’s. The McBrides knew how difficult and lonely it was for families on the unit, especially during the holidays.

Back in 1998, Chelsea’s classmates, along with the entire school, collected enough money for the McBrides to purchase Christmas gifts for all the patients and their families who could not leave the hospital.

The McBrides loaded up a red wagon and, with 1-year-old Chandler riding in the back, the family delivered gifts to all the patients on the unit as well as brothers and sisters back home.

Chandler quietly passed away in the arms of his mother a year later, a heartbreaking end to a bright young life. The McBrides could have retreated into their own sorrow, become bitter and angry or blamed the world for their loss.

Instead, Dana and Kevin did what very few people could do – they decided to remember the families who were still on the unit, waiting for a miracle.

The first few years after Chandler passed away, Dana and Kevin visited the unit on major holidays – bringing patriotic baskets with goodies on the Fourth of July and candy and decorations on Easter and Mother’s Day.

Eventually, they decided to concentrate on Christmas, a happy time for most families but a painful one for those on the ward who are isolated from the rest of the world.

Throughout the year, the McBrides collect money so they can spread holiday cheer on the cancer ward, and this year is no different. Dana said after they get the patient wish list from the nurses, they go shopping, and their living room resembles a department store.

The gifts they purchase includes toiletries, cologne, toys and tokens for the parking garage. They choose gifts specifically for everyone in the family of the child isolated on the unit. The McBrides decorate a tree and put up holiday garland and lights in the lobby.

They load up a little red wagon and Santa takes Chandler’s place handing out the gifts. Dana and Kevin understand the fatigue, sorrow and helplessness those mothers and fathers feel watching their children undergo test after test and procedure after procedure.

This is the 11th year for Chandler’s Tree Farm, and 100 percent of all the funds collected go directly to the patients and their families. Your donation can help ensure the families on the ward know others care about them and haven’t forgotten them as they fight for their child’s life.

Donations can be mailed to Dana and Kevin McBride, 13330 Raintree Dr., Montgomery, Texas, 77356. For more information, email chandlerstreefarm@gmail.com or search for Chandler’s Tree Farm on Facebook.

There you’ll meet the McBrides and the nurses, family members and friends who’ve had their lives changed by parents who’ve endured the worst tragedy a parent can imagine but turned their grief and sorrow into a positive outreach to people in the midst of despair.

Yes, heroes dash into danger to help others. Some, like Dana and Kevin, load up a little red wagon with gifts and, in the name of their little boy, spread as much joy as they possibly can in a place where hope can often seem out of reach.

Want to know the definition of a true hero? Look at the people behind Chandler’s Tree Farm. There’s your answer.

This article was previously published in The Fort Bend Herald.

I had to bid farewell to a dear friend this week. This friend saw me through good times and sad times, celebrations and crying jags.

My dear friend did not judge or gossip behind my back. This friend was never too busy for me and listened when I needed to vent.

Chocolate, dear friend, I shall miss thee.

Over the years, I’ve noticed I’ve become more sensitive to foods and additives, especially caffeine.

Where I could once down a Coke at 10 p.m. and be fast asleep an hour later, now a cup of caffeinated coffee in the morning will have me wide awake at 1 a.m.

So a couple of years ago, I switched to all decaffeinated beverages. Although they quench my thirst, they’re still poor substitutes for an early morning caffeine zing.

I almost had to say good-bye to dairy foods. A few years ago, I noticed I had a tummy ache after drinking a glass of milk. Research indicated I might be lactose intolerant.

I’m intolerant about a lot of things – people who take up two parking spots, dogs left chained up in the back yard and drivers who text while driving – but good old-fashioned Vitamin D milk couldn’t be on the aggravation list.

So I decided to experiment. I filled a bowl with creamy Blue Bell milk chocolate ice cream, sat back and enjoyed every spoonful.

I had a cramping stomach ache for three days.

My sister-in-law told me about Lactaid. This magical pill, as it’s advertised on its Website, counteracts the effects of dairy products for people who react unpleasantly to milk, ice cream and cheese.

It took me two years to gather up the courage to fight that stomach ache again. But the lure of Blue Bell Triple Chocolate ice cream finally got to me, and I bought a box of the pills.

The manufacturer was right – it was magic, and I can now enjoy a bowl of ice cream without dreading the after effects.

Unfortunately, I might strike out when it comes to chocolate. Chocolate’s caffeine levels aren’t sky high, but they’re obviously enough to play havoc with my system, and that’s a sad state of affairs.

Chocolate, you see, has been my best friend since I was a young girl. My grandparents owned a five-and-dime store, and they had a candy counter near the front door.

The section was filled with all types of sweets – pink, yellow and white candy necklaces, licorice strips and bubble gum.

Those gummy candies were a distant second to the delicious, creamy taste of chocolate, and that love affair has sustained me for over 40 years.

And what a friend chocolate has been. It never asks me for money and doesn’t want to borrow my car. Those Hershey Kisses and Dove Milk Chocolate candies patiently waited for me in the back of my desk drawer until I reached for their help.

So after my last bout with insomnia, knowing full well chocolate was the culprit, it was with great reluctance I cleared out my secret stash of chocolate.

With tears in my eyes, I now walk past the candy counter at the grocery store, my old friends, Mars and Cadbury, wistfully calling my name as I reach for the spearmint Tic Tacs.

I’ve had quite a few satisfying relationships in my life, all with people, but the relationship I’ve had with chocolate stands tall and firm in its own right.

I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for a “live with chocolate” pill so my stalwart buddies, Nestle and Hershey, can take their rightful place in my desk drawer.

Goodbye, dear friend.

Parting is such sweet sorrow.

This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.

“Everwood” was one of my favorite television shows in the early 2000’s. On one of the early episodes, the character of Ephram gave a speech about his tragic flaw — his inability to change. I’ve always liked it and decided to share it here for no other reason than the excerpt is poignant writing, probably from show creator Greg Berlanti, and writing that tugs at the heart is always a joy to read again and share.

From “Everwood” – penned by Ephram Brown, a teen-age character on the show:

The more things change, the more they stay the same. I’m not sure who the first person was to say that – maybe it was William Shakespeare or perhaps Sting – but at the moment, it’s the line that best explains my tragic flaw: my inability to change.

I don’t think I’m alone in this. The more I get to know people, the more I realize it’s everyone’s flaw.

Staying exactly the same for as long as possible and standing perfectly still feels better, or at least the pain is familiar if you’re suffering.

If you took that leap of faith, one outside the box, if you did something unexpected, who knows what other pain might be waiting out there. It could be worse pain, so we maintain the status quo and stay on the road always traveled.

It doesn’t seem so bad – not as bad as flaws go. You’re not a drug addict; you’re not killing anybody, except yourself a little. But when we finally do change, it doesn’t happen like an earthquake or an explosion or, all of a sudden, we’re a different person.

I think it’s smaller, the kind of thing people wouldn’t even notice unless they looked really close which, thank God, they never do.

But you notice it.

Inside, it feels like a world of difference. You finally become the person you’re meant to be forever, and you hope you’ll never have to change again.

The news came via email from my aunt last week – a fire had completely destroyed the church in Olean, N.Y., the town where she lives, my mom was married in and I was baptized in.

St. Joseph’s Maronite Catholic Church was over 100 years old and was the central gathering place for my parents, grandparents and great-grandparents.

The case is still under investigation, but foul play is not suspected. Perhaps old wiring, maybe a spark in the attic – no one knows exactly what started the blaze, but a church where thousands of weddings, baptisms, funerals and daily Masses were celebrated and observed is now a pile of rubble.

The horrendous fires currently raging across Texas drove home the point of what happens when fire roars through a city, town or a building.

Everything’s either burned beyond recognition or damaged by smoke and water used to put out the flames. All that’s left are cinders and memories.

I can still remember attending Mass at St. Joe’s as a young girl – the church always had a lingering, faint scent of lemon furniture polish and incense. The same people sat in the same pews week after week, and bingo was a staple on Saturday nights.

My parents were married at St. Joe’s, and the picture of my dad kissing my mom on the church steps is one of my favorites.

Three of their children received their first Holy Communion at St. Joe’s, and I always loved stopping in for a quick prayer whenever we went back to Olean in the summers.

It seemed I’d no sooner read the news about St. Joe’s than I heard about the Texas wildfires thundering across the state.

Tracking the fires online and reading posts on Facebook, the fires weren’t a distant threat – they were within 200 miles of our home. With the strong winds we had this weekend, the wildfires quickly grew and seemed to pop up all over the place.

Sunday afternoon, my husband and I were out on country roads, and we drove past parched meadows and pastures. People were outside, tending to their horses, watering trees whose leaves were withered and sparse or simply standing outside, watching distant smoke from the fires slowly drift their way.

Skies that were blue slowly but surely turned gray, and bits of ash landed on my shirt when we stopped. The smell of those fires was in the air, and we knew people’s lives were being decimated minute by minute.

So many people lost their homes and all their belongings in fires that seem impossible to believe, especially in a state where hurricanes, flooding and tornadoes are Mother Nature’s wrath, not out-of-control wildfires.

Later that evening, I watched a video from the fire back in Olean, and one lady put her parish’s disaster in perspective. She said the fire destroyed a building, yet she felt blessed. No one lost their life in the fire.

She was holding a brick from the old church and said anyone wishing to buy a salvaged brick could do so. All the money would go toward rebuilding St. Joe’s.

For the people affected by floods or fires, nothing can bring back their treasured heirlooms and irreplaceable photos and belongings.

But when the time comes to rebuild, I want to keep in mind what that parishioner said – rebuilding is one brick at a time.

And that’s what the resilient people in Olean will do as well as the people in Texas affected by fire. They will rebuild one brick, one cabinet and one crucifix at a time.

A home, as they say, is where the heart is and nothing can destroy that dwelling place.

This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.