One of the Hardest Things

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Where the River Took Us

Episode 3: One of the Hardest Things

Host: Aaron Parsley, Texas Monthly
Date: June 2, 2026

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Episode Overview

"One of the Hardest Things" delves into the aftermath of the catastrophic Central Texas floods of July 4, 2025, through the eyes of Aaron Parsley and his immediate and extended family. In the wake of unspeakable loss—including the death of young Clay—Aaron explores how trauma, grief, community, memory, and healing are experienced uniquely by each survivor. The episode is an intimate, deeply affecting conversation about the mundane and the monumental tasks of coping after tragedy, the acts of kindness that sustained the Parsley family, and the ongoing search for meaning, comfort, and a way forward.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Processing Trauma: Personal and Shared Reflections

• Aaron’s Father and Aaron discuss their altered relationships with mornings and hypervigilance post-trauma

  • Both now find mornings especially weighted, sometimes comforting and sometimes haunted by memories.
  • Hypervigilance and anxiety manifest for Aaron’s father, notably with loud noises and paranoia when driving.
  • Quote: "I'm definitely paranoid about driving, and I'm just kind of totally focused on not getting in a wreck." – Aaron's Dad [01:40]

• Aaron processes trauma differently, facing memories willingly

  • He talks about "welcoming" intrusive memories as a way to honor what happened, comparing coping mechanisms with other family members who might prefer forgetting.
  • Quote: "Staring directly at this time when I was truly hopeless and out of control has become an act of reverence for a power much, much greater than myself." – Aaron Parsley [03:19]

Family, Support Systems, and Acts of Kindness

• Patrick’s Sister, Carolyn, rushes in from New Mexico

  • Describes the urgency and emotional impact of arriving to comfort her brother.
  • She notes Patrick has "changed", appearing fragile for the first time.
  • Quote: "For my brother Patrick, who embodies what it means to be resourceful and fearless, I understood that my brother had faced death and he had felt a vulnerability, an aloneness that he didn't recognize." – Carolyn [06:13]

• Importance of simply being present

  • Aaron and Patrick reflect on how the support of friends and family members wasn’t always about doing or saying the right thing, but being a calming, steady presence.
  • Patrick describes learning that just being there—helping with everyday tasks—was invaluable.
  • Quote: "Just being there for people when they need you is more important than the specifics of how you do it." – Patrick Michaels [11:17]

• Recovering physical fragments from the flood

  • Aaron’s family, including his stepmother Alex and stepbrother Wilson, collect scattered belongings—some deeply personal and miraculously intact, such as a ceramic dove from Wilson’s great-grandmother.
  • Emotional resonance of reclaiming these objects illustrates the tangle of loss, memory, and identity.
  • Quote: "We found this ceramic dove that belonged to my Great grandmother...and it was unbroken. I took that and gave that back to my mom. It was a lot to comprehend out there." – Wilson [12:43]

Enduring Grief and Community Rituals

• Identification and funeral for Clay

  • Aaron recounts the excruciating but necessary act of identifying Clay’s body, and the relief of knowing and closure it brings.
  • Describes the wake as an outpouring of communal support, emphasizing how much it meant to the family to see people from all walks of life come together.
  • Observes different styles of grieving, particularly Lance’s turn to professional expertise for answers.
  • Quote: "It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, and I would have given anything to change it. But at the same time, there was some relief because we'd found him, and we knew what had happened." – Aaron Parsley [15:03]

• Lance’s search for understanding through engineering

  • Lance, a civil engineer, channels his grief into studying the flood itself, seeking solutions to prevent future tragedies.
  • Begins contacting officials and running his own flood models.
  • Quote: "I was devastated, and I was angry. I was like, how could this complete destructive force of nature exist here? There's no flood control. I was angry. This needs to change." – Lance [17:02]
  • Emphasized as a way some survivors cope: by problem-solving and advocating for systemic change.

Generational Reflections on Loss and the Changing Nature of Life

• Aaron’s Dad on mortality, nostalgia, and aging

  • Connects the flood to deeper rumination on mortality and the human experience of accumulating loss and richness over time.
  • Quote: "It seems richer. Not in the sense of it's all good, but in the sense of it being a human condition to age and to have loss in your life and also have good moments, too." – Aaron’s Dad [18:57]

• Healing through reading and learning

  • Aaron credits his father’s “spirituality” and reading habit for a more accepting approach to tragedy.
  • Aaron’s Dad describes how reading about trauma (specifically “The Body Keeps the Score”) helped him understand and empathize with others in the family.
  • Quote: "I just wanted them to get better. And Alex and I have talked about that a lot...but that’s not how the healing process works after trauma and extreme grief." – Aaron's Dad [21:06]

The Return to Everyday Life and Searching for New Beginnings

• Small rituals—like brunch—take on new meaning

  • Aaron describes the first brunch with Patrick post-flood as a profound moment of gratitude and renewed appreciation for ordinary life.
  • Quote: "To be back there all banged up and bruised and to be there and have a chance to do it again was really incredible...To feel so alive and to feel things so intensely, it was really powerful and really profound." – Aaron Parsley [21:54]

• Relocating to Lockhart as a conscious decision to live more purposefully

  • The move supports both Patrick’s art and the couple’s desire to seize life, rather than merely recover from loss.
  • Quote: "It is just a really great example of how I think I want to live my life now...doing the things that we want to do together, taking action to meet our goals and live the life that we want to live now that we've got this chance." – Aaron Parsley [23:45]

Revisiting the Flood Site: Reunion and Remembrance

• Returning to Ingram and reconnecting with rescuers

  • Emotional return to the riverside, where Aaron reunites with Mike, Mickey, Chris, and Jennifer—the strangers who helped save their lives.
  • The physical changes in the river and landscape serve as metaphors for trauma’s lasting effects.
  • Quote: "Standing there, looking out at the river, it really makes you very emotional. It kind of hits you what you've been through, what your family's been through. And it is just this mix of melancholy mixed with relief and gratitude." – Aaron Parsley [27:22]

• Jennifer’s story: Empathy through shared grief

  • Jennifer, who lost her first husband to drowning years earlier, describes recognizing Alyssa’s pain immediately, and the sense of kinship it produced.
  • Quote: "As soon as I heard Alyssa, I thought, oh, yeah, that's what you mean when you say you need this question...if I scream loud enough, this will not be true. I can stop this by sheer will of my panic." – Jennifer Lopez [36:09]

• Commemorative gestures: the charm for Clay

  • Jennifer and her coworkers wear a James Avery charm in memory of Clay, underlining the power of remembrance and solidarity in healing.
  • Quote: "We all wear these every single day in honor of Clay." – Jennifer Lopez [37:11]

• Aaron’s visit to “his” tree: confronting and honoring survival

  • Revisiting the tree where he survived the flood underscores the power of place in trauma and recovery.
  • Quote: "I feel like this is the tree that saved my life. Sounds weird, but I really do feel that way. And this is a strong tree." – Aaron Parsley [39:27]

• Mike on the irrevocable change of the land and life

  • The river has changed course; the flood’s impact is permanent.
  • Quote: "Now it's a history book because it's never going to look like this again. But, I mean, that's okay. It's the nature of everything. I mean, things change." – Mike [41:21]

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Memorable Quotes and Moments

• “Just being there for people when they need you is more important than the specifics of how you do it.” – Patrick Michaels [11:17]
• “For my brother Patrick ... I understood that my brother had faced death and he had felt a vulnerability, an aloneness that he didn't recognize.” – Carolyn [06:13]
• “It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, and I would have given anything to change it. But ... there was some relief because we'd found him, and we knew what had happened.” – Aaron Parsley [15:03]
• “This is not happening. And if I fight it, if I negate this enough, it will not be true. And ... you are safe to be panicked, and we're here with you. And yes, this is the worst moment of your life.” – Jennifer Lopez [35:09]
• “Now it's a history book because it's never going to look like this again. ... That's okay. It's the nature of everything. I mean, things change.” – Mike [41:21]

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Important Timestamps

• 00:23–01:40: Aaron and his dad discuss their new relationship to mornings, triggers, and hypervigilance after the flood
• 04:01–06:43: Carolyn describes learning about the tragedy and her emotional reaction upon seeing Patrick
• 10:03–11:34: Reflections on simply being present as support
• 12:20–13:21: Wilson recalls finding family belongings—including an unbroken ceramic dove
• 15:03–16:56: The journey to identify Clay and the family’s funeral and wake
• 17:30–18:46: Lance’s engineering-driven grieving process
• 18:46–21:06: Aaron’s dad on mortality, nostalgia, and the healing power of reading
• 21:46–23:45: The significance of everyday rituals and moving to Lockhart as a new beginning
• 27:03–28:53: Aaron and Mike discuss the rescuers’ experiences that night
• 35:00–36:40: Jennifer relates her personal history with drowning tragedy and her empathy for the Parsleys
• 39:27–41:47: Revisiting the tree, the changed river landscape, and philosophical reflections on change

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Tone and Language

The tone throughout is direct, intimate, and respectful of the emotional terrain, featuring a blend of somber realism, humility, and small but profound moments of hope or gratitude. There is a notable focus on vulnerability, the complexity of grief, and the search for meaning in the wake of chaos.

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Flow and Structure

The episode is less a linear narrative and more a woven tapestry of voices, memories, and places. It moves organically from one perspective to another, mirroring the unpredictable, nonlinear experience of grief and recovery. The recounted moments—whether searching for possessions among the debris or returning to the river months later—are layered with both personal and universal insights.

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Conclusion

"One of the Hardest Things" is an extraordinary meditation on the realities of surviving tragedy—honoring the pain, the search for closure and understanding, and the acts, both small and large, that bind a community and a family together. The eponymous “hardest things” are not only the loss itself but the ongoing, daily work of living in its aftermath.

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[End of Summary]

Transcript

[Aaron Parsley]

Before we get started, a warning that this show contains descriptions of subjects including child loss, drowning and grief.

[Patrick Michaels]

Texas monthly.

[Aaron's Dad]

I almost always wake up at first light. I like first light. It's usually quiet and it can be real pretty and it reminded me of or it still does. Reminds me of being in that tree and watching the light come up.

[Aaron Parsley]

When I was alone with my dad in the studio, we wound up comparing notes on what we'd experienced and how

[Aaron's Dad]

it had affected us and then initially that would bring on the tears and I knew that was good, but it was hard. It's still very mixed feelings, but I do enjoy lying there and letting the day come on you that way.

[Aaron Parsley]

I do this now too. I've always been an early morning person, but especially in those first few weeks, I get up even earlier than usual in the dark over alone. Some of the most haunting memories show up uninvited when it rains, when our old house groans in the middle of the night, or when I'm out on a run and I look up at the branches of a hackberry tree swaying against an overcast sky.

[Aaron's Dad]

Yeah, I do. Like somebody honks a horn, I jump, even if they're not honking at me and any loud noise. And then I'm also kind of hyper vigilant. I'm definitely paranoid about driving, and I'm just kind of totally focused on not getting in a wreck.

[Aaron Parsley]

Waking up on the 5th, I couldn't stop trying to remember exactly what it felt like to be stuck in that house and trying to remember exactly what it felt like to be in the water. I understand now that a response to trauma is to try to hold on to every little sensation and every little detail of the event. The sound of debris pounding the walls in the storm, the smell of mud and timber inside our home, the headlights of a car bobbing in the river. When these memories come back, I welcome them in like I'm indulging an urge to live in those moments again. I understand why other survivors, including members of my family, would rather forget. I understand the torment of fantasizing about how this could have gone differently if we'd left the night before because of the broken water pump, or if one of us had been standing closer to Alyssa and the kids when the house started moving. If we'd gotten a weather alert on our phone, if we'd never gone out there for the 4th, or if we'd never been to that house at all. I get why someone could count themselves lucky to survive and never let themselves get near the vortex of those memories. But for me, staring directly at this time when I was truly hopeless and out of control has become an act of reverence for a power much, much greater than myself. From Texas Monthly, I'm Aaron Parsley. And this is where the river took us. Episode 3 One of the hardest things. In the days after the flood, we were all learning new things like that about ourselves and about one another at home. Patrick, who had gone right into search and rescue mode during the flood, seemed very steady in the days that followed. But there was one moment he kept coming back to.

[Patrick Michaels]

For the first few weeks, if I

[Aaron Parsley]

woke up in the middle of the night, I would just sort of think through this alt history version of what had happened, fantasizing about it going differently, where someone could have saved Clay. But I don't think that I have experienced any major trauma that I'm aware of. When I think about it, I'm more grateful than anything, and that's what I keep going back to.

[Patrick Michaels]

Aside from all the sadness, there's so

[Aaron Parsley]

much to be grateful for. As soon as we were home, all of a sudden, there are a million things to do and a million questions to answer. The first and foremost is, where's Clay? We started calling hospitals. We called 911. By the next day, we had a better sense that someone was looking for Clay, that someone would know who to call if and when they found him. It was excruciating, but we had a lot of support. One of the first people who really helped was Patrick's sister, Carolyn. Patrick called her the morning of the 4th while we were still at the hospital. I know how close you guys are, and so I just imagine that that was really, really hard to find out about what had happened.

[Carolyn]

The thing I remember feeling, when he's saying things very rapidly, he's like, and I had no idea where Aaron was. And it was that I remember the feeling that I had was that this is his new family. Like, I'm his family. But he just went through this and had to wonder if his new family was gone. You know what I mean?

[Aaron Parsley]

Yeah.

[Carolyn]

Patrick sounded like he was forever changed,

[Jennifer Lopez]

and

[Carolyn]

I will never forget the words he used. Carolyn, I have never felt that feeling before, and I guess it doesn't sound so weighted. But you have to understand, for my brother Patrick, who embodies what it means to be resourceful and fearless, I understood that my brother had faced death and he had felt a vulnerability, an aloneness that he didn't recognize. That's what really zinged is when he said those words in that moment, I felt like I just wanted to take care of him.

[Aaron Parsley]

Carolyn and her husband Josh, live in this really remote part of New Mexico. It's beautiful, but it's not easy to get out of there in a hurry.

[Carolyn]

And when we went to look at tickets, felt very fortunate that There was a 4pm flight and I had just enough time, probably 20 minutes, to throw clothes into a bag and make that flight. It's like I felt like I was on a mission and I hadn't shared with him that I was coming because I did not want to add one more logistical thing to his day and what you all were going through. I had no idea where he'd be or you all would be.

[Aaron Parsley]

I remember, well, we had gotten home and we were cleaned up, and when you called Patrick and then he hung up and said that Carolyn's here and she's coming.

[Carolyn]

I remember getting out of the car and having to take a deep breath because being seconds away from being able to see both of you in such a short amount of time from what just took place the morning. That morning. And I remember holding him and being flooded with all those memories of he and I on that very same river that just represented so much joy and wonderful memories to now. It being the very thing that almost took him.

[Aaron Parsley]

How did he look?

[Carolyn]

Vulnerable. Fragile again, like I'd never seen him before. That way he looked changed. And it's not like, you know, he and I don't understand that we're fragile in our own way. We just don't show it naturally. And so to see my brother sort of stripped down in that way and just knowing. Just knowing that maybe he had just been scared for the first time in his life to that degree. And I just knew that he was changed, and I knew that all of you were going to be different.

[Aaron Parsley]

I will tell you, Carolyn, I was. From the moment you walked in, I was so grateful that you were there and that he had you there. It just meant so much to me because I. I was just so sorry that he had been through that, you know, And I know what Yalls relationship is, and I am grateful that you came, and that's for him. I'm also grateful that you came for me because you have this very calm, peaceful, steady, strong presence my whole family expressed in some version of what I said about having you there. And your presence was calming and made us feel safer. Carolyn stuck around in Austin for a few days. Alyssa and Lance's place became a sort of home base for the family, and Carolyn came over there to help too.

[Carolyn]

When you mentioned possibly being able to go and see the rest of your family, I. That. I hope it's not strange to say, but that just felt like a gift, because I really did. I wanted to see everyone, and I understood that you had all been through something together, but then also very, very individually and alone.

[Aaron Parsley]

A lot of people came together to just help us with whatever small stuff we needed. But more than anything, it's just having them there that feels right, you know, to have that person to give you a hug, to listen, to grab a water or run down the street to get something. Melissa, my friend who'd come to drive us home after the flood, was there every single day. I don't know. It felt like for weeks.

[Patrick Michaels]

I mean, I wanted to be there. I wanted to. To help as much as I could. It's hard to know the right thing to say or do in any given moment, and I think what might be right in one moment would be completely wrong in the next. And I kind of learned that quickly. But I just wanted to be a presence. I mean, I wanted to help take out the garbage and load the dishwasher and play with Rosemary and hug your sister. Just being there for people when they need you is more important than the specifics of how you do it.

[Aaron Parsley]

I think that's right. While we were still in some kind of shock, there were all these totally mundane things that needed to be done, too. You know, there's insurance claims to make, there's phones to replace. There's stuff to replace. My stepmom, Alex, took on a lot of this.

[Patrick Michaels]

I spent a lot of my days just filling out the Excel sheet with every single thing that was in the house.

[Aaron Parsley]

One day, she and her son, my stepbrother Wilson, drove out to the property along the river, and a neighbor showed them where pieces of our house had washed up.

[Patrick Michaels]

There was, you know, couches and trees and washing machines and dishwashers and refrigerators.

[Aaron Parsley]

This is Wilson.

[Patrick Michaels]

Just stuff everywhere. I noticed this comforter, and it's a very unique orange design, and it's way up in a tree. And it's such a weird thing to recognize, but I go, that's my mom's comforter. And then it started hitting me that, like, that's our door. And then I found myself among all of our things. We met this guy named Terry out there who just lived in the area. He started helping me look for things down there. And he would just say, wilson, does this look familiar to you? And sure enough, we found this ceramic dove that belonged to my Great grandmother that was just, like, in the bottom of this pit that he pulled out, and it was unbroken. I took that and gave that back to my mom. It was a lot to comprehend out there.

[Aaron Parsley]

The day after the flood, we'd gotten the call from a Kerr county official that they had found a body that matched the description of Clay that we had given them and said that they couldn't be sure based on the pictures, but that someone needed to come out there and take a look and see if they had found Clay. So I volunteered with my aunt and my cousin. But Lance, he wanted to go. He said he felt he needed to go. So that Saturday, we got in the car, and my cousin drove us all the way back out to Kerrville, where we went to a funeral home. And behind the funeral home, in their back parking lot, they had set up this morg. And they took us back, and we got to see Clay, and it was definitely him. Lance said, that's my boy. He touched his chest, and he kind of wiped his hair. And he told clay, we love you. Your mama loves you. We tried to save you. And he said, I'm so sorry. And it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, and I would have given anything to change it. But at the same time, there was some relief because we'd found him, and we knew what had happened, you know, that he was gone. On July 12, we had a funeral for Clay. It was a private ceremony, just family and a couple friends came. Alyssa and Lance both spoke, and I've never been so proud of them. I don't know how they found the strength to do it, but they both said the most beautiful words about their son. After that, we left the church and went back to Alyssa and Lance's house. And it had invited anybody who wanted to come by to see us and to join us for a wake. And it was an incredible turnout. The house was completely full. People from all different parts of my life showed up. And I know Alyssa was surrounded by her closest, most beloved friends. And it was really wonderful to be around all those people, to see how many people showed up and to see all the cars lined up along the road. It just helps to know that people care. And at the same time, when everyone gets together, you witness how people grieve differently, how loss affects us differently. I noticed Lance, for example. He often seemed like he was deep in thought, like he was trying to solve a problem in his working life. Lance is a civil engineer. He works on water projects, but mostly in cities, drainage systems and water flow issues. In his grief and in his search for answers, I saw him lean on that expertise. I remember going over to the house, and you were figuring out how fast the water was moving and learning sort of more about the event itself. Where did that curiosity come from?

[Lance]

It's from, I guess, the skills I've learned in my career over my past 20 years of practicing engineering. I, immediately after the flight was just, you know, I was devastated, and I was angry. I was like, how could this complete destructive force of nature exist here? There's no flood control. I was angry. This needs to change, you know.

[Aaron Parsley]

How soon after the flood did you start thinking about this stuff?

[Lance]

Very soon. Very soon. I didn't start looking at it probably for another few weeks. But in my mind, I was just like, this is not. This isn't how we should be as a society. Because it wasn't just us. I mean, that storm just barreled through Hunt Ingram, Kerrville centerpoint Comfort.

[Aaron Parsley]

In those days and weeks after the flood, I was grateful that lance had something to focus on. Sometimes I'd go over to the house, and Lance would be on his laptop, working. One time, he showed me the flooding models he was creating. A few times, he sent a note in our family group chat about meeting with a kerr county official about the mission that he was taking on to try and make a difference, to try and change something so that this doesn't happen again. Like I said, he's a problem solver, and he got right to it. We were really proud of him. I saw my dad, too, following his curiosity about the matters at hand, leaning on the things that had supported him prior to the flood, the places he'd found meaning. He's a very thoughtful person, and he was paying attention to how his outlook had shifted.

[Aaron's Dad]

You know, at my age, it's probably not unnatural to. You start thinking about mortality, and you have nostalgia for your youth and the. Maybe some of the friends you've lost along the way. And so this kind of accentuates that. That concept of, you know, you're not going to live forever. And it makes, you know, life. It seems richer. Not in the sense of it's all good, but in the sense of it being a human condition to age and to have loss in your life and also have good moments, too.

[Aaron Parsley]

Dad, I want to tell you, like, I've always admired what I consider your spirituality. You've got this really amazing outlook on life. I attribute that to your reading habit. And you use books as a way of understanding the world and how the forces of the universe interact with us. And I just have seen that in play these past few months, let you go seeking to understand something. And it helps. I think it helps not feel a lot of anger about the hard stuff, about the tragedy, about the loss. It allows you to sort of accept the indifference of this world.

[Aaron's Dad]

Yeah, it's given me, I mean, reading this stuff about grief and trauma, that's something I have never really explored. And now that's very interesting to me. Very, very enlightening. Actually, I got a book I read, too, about trauma and grief called the Body Keeps the Score and It Breaks it down about what your brain does during an event like that and what it does afterwards. And it helped me understand a lot about what Alyssa and Lance were going through. They're kind of more aggravated ptsd. And until I had read this, I didn't understand it. And I just wanted them to get better. And Alex and I have talked about that a lot. We're both lawyers. We're both control freaks like most lawyers, and we just want to, you know, take somebody and say, you're going to get better. And that's not how the healing process works after trauma and extreme grief.

[Aaron Parsley]

Patrick and I have this tradition. We go to brunch at the same place every Sunday, right when they open at 11am and the week after the flood, we went there, and it was just the most beautiful memory because here we were doing something that we've always done together. And to be able to be back there all banged up and bruised and to be there and have a chance to do it again was really incredible. So you're just raw and emotional and grateful, and it's nothing like I've ever experienced before. To feel so alive and to feel things so intensely, it was really powerful and really profound and happening. In these little moments that I just sort of got back to life, to normal life, I felt changed. You know, you're driving to the store, getting some exercise, grabbing a bite to eat, and it just feels so much bigger, you know, bigger than it would have felt had this never happened. In late September, we started going out to visit Lockhart. Lockhart is a little town about 30 miles south of Austin. And it's very quaint. It's peaceful, it's quiet. Patrick was drawn to Lockhart's art community. He wanted to go out there and explore it and get to know some of the artists and the gallerists. And we just really fell in love with this little town. And we ended up moving there in December. And we've been Extremely happy with our decision. You know, why wait?

[Mike]

And

[Aaron Parsley]

for me, it was a step towards helping Patrick achieve what he wants to achieve with his artwork. And, you know, the house that we bought has a studio space, and he's set up in there, and he's producing art there. And it is just a really great example of how I think I want to live my life now, you know, in support of my husband, doing the things that we want to do together, taking action to meet our goals and live the life that we want to live now that we've got this chance. And that new perspective is something I first felt up in that Hackberry, the tree that really kind of saved my life. I started to think of it as my tree, even though it isn't my tree at all. It's on someone else's property. I'd never seen it before that morning, and I hadn't seen it since. But as the weeks went on, I kept filling in the pieces of what had happened, and I realized I wanted to see that tree again. Okay, I'm gonna pull off here and just text them really quick. This was in late September, almost three months after the flood, and I was on the road again, heading to Ingram. And it wasn't just to see that tree. I was going back to reunite with the people who'd done so much for us that morning. Mike and Mickey Marvins and Chris and Jennifer Lopez. Strangers who'd swooped in and comforted me and my family when we needed help. We used to always say that, like, after you pass the day, dam kind of feel a little lighter. Get that river house feeling. So this is good old Ingram. The river's just over here. Yeah. This is the part of the drive where you really feel you're getting close, and it feels really good. So you can see some of these trees that are broken. And, like, see here on the left, this kind of strip of land, all this that was covered with trees before, and now it looks like the moon. I mean, it's just almost completely bare. We got out of the car, and Mike and Mickey were there in the driveway to meet us. How are you? It's so wonderful to see you. Pardon me if I cry. It's good to see you. Thank you for having us. Oh, Mike. Nice to see you, Mike. Thank you for having us. Oh, hi, Chris. Really good to see you too. Hi, Jennifer. Oh, wow. It's wonderful to be back to see you guys. Weird and wonderful. Weird and wonderful. Yeah. It's light outside, and it's a beautiful day. Yeah. And it's light outside from their living room. We stepped out onto the back patio overlooking the river. Oh, wow. This is crazy. Yeah, the water was all the way up.

[Patrick Michaels]

It was up to the bottom of the steps right there. Yeah, you were up in the leaves. Yeah, you were up high and the water was. I can show you pictures. It was just about 3ft down from that dip.

[Aaron Parsley]

Standing there looking out at the river, it really makes you very emotional. It kind of hits you what you've been through, what your family's been through. And it is just this mix of melancholy mixed with relief and gratitude. This is where Mike had first heard my voice from up in the tree, standing on the back porch now, I asked them about how they'd experienced that morning. Mike said, like my family, he'd been woken up by the storm in the middle of the night.

[Mike]

It was like a strobe light outside our building bedroom window, just constant for hours. I'd never saw lightning like that. And I said, holy shit. And I came out again at 6 to see what was going on. And I heard screaming. It sounded like maybe a deer got caught or you know how the animals make the high pitched sounds and all that. And then I heard a voice. Someone over here was talking to him. A male.

[Aaron Parsley]

Yeah.

[Mike]

And I. I was yelling down and the water was still high. It was going like 30 miles an hour at least. They were roofing, you know, sheet metal roofing from aluminum roofs. And they were going down like this. They could cut someone in half. And they were just going like that, in waves like this. It was unbelievable. And it was dark.

[Aaron Parsley]

And I'd seen these people from up there in the tree and assumed they couldn't hear me, but they had heard me. It was just that there was nothing they could do.

[Mike]

And it was like it wasn't me that was standing there, you know, it was just like otherworldly. It was just a really weird experience. And plus knowing that maybe 10 years before I could have done something. But I mean, I'm 84 now and I ain't like I was 10 years ago.

[Aaron Parsley]

I could see them from up in the tree, moving around on their porch. And at first, you know, it was still dark and I. I was confused about what they were doing. I was screaming for them over the rush of the river. I didn't know if they could hear me. But as the light changed, I realized that, you know, there was nothing for them to do. They just had to wait like I did. You know, part of the reason I wanted to come here is just to Thank y'. All. I am so grateful for what you did to help us that day. It was like the worst moments of our lives. And to have such kindness and to help get Rosemary out of the tree was just incredible. And I'm just so, so grateful. And I really appreciate y' all for being there that day and the way you handled it. It was incredible.

[Patrick Michaels]

Wish we could have done more.

[Aaron Parsley]

I know. Yeah.

[Patrick Michaels]

But she's the hero.

[Aaron Parsley]

Yeah, I think so. It took me a second to realize she was talking about Rosemary, that Rosemary is, is the hero.

[Patrick Michaels]

She had woke up.

[Aaron Parsley]

Yeah, that's right.

[Patrick Michaels]

We wouldn't be here.

[Aaron Parsley]

Yeah. Because she was the first one to wake up and alert us to what was going on. In some ways, I felt so close to Mickey, Mike, Jennifer and Chris, but we were strangers, really, and so I wanted to get to know them better.

[Mike]

Well, I was born right as World War II started.

[Aaron Parsley]

So

[Mike]

in June of 41, my mother came up here with one of her best friends. And we stayed in these rock cabins right here in Ingram, which are still there. Went swimming in the river. So I was basically one year old and I don't remember a darn thing.

[Aaron Parsley]

When Mike was 10, he started coming back to the hill country for summer camp. First as a camper than as a counselor. Counselors got weekends off to explore.

[Mike]

And we would go all around the hill country to every little nook and cranny, you know, and just had a blanket with us and a pillow. And the big attraction was Garner State park. The dance on Saturday night. And we would go to the dance, try and pick up girls.

[Aaron Parsley]

Mike is a fourth generation photographer. His great grandfather had a studio in a small town in Poland. And later on his family ran a well respected portrait studio in Houston where politicians and business leaders came to have their pictures taken. And Mike's been all around the hill country with his camera. He showed me his book, the Texas Hill Country A Photographic Adventure. One of the pictures is a view of the Guadalupe right off his back porch. Chris and Jennifer live here full time. Jennifer is a psychiatric nurse practitioner and they moved here from Austin after she got a job at the State hospital in Kerrville.

[Jennifer Lopez]

Coming out here was, you know, so different. It was odd not having a target, you know, I think it was a bit of a shock. We were used to the hustle and bustle of Austin and we'd lived there, both of us, for over 50 years.

[Aaron Parsley]

And so the lifestyle of living out here, small town, you've. You've grown to love it, grown to love it.

[Jennifer Lopez]

But I Think it. It took us a couple of years to learn to slow down, but you've

[Aaron Parsley]

said you want to stay here. It never crossed your mind that this place has changed too much for you or.

[Jennifer Lopez]

Oh, without question it did. The first two weeks, several times I came home and said, you know, I'm done, I'm done. I think I want to just. Let's just, let's go somewhere else that's quote, unquote safer. But where exactly is that? In the end,

[Aaron Parsley]

right after the disaster, this community really started to come together. Neighbors were helping neighbors. Volunteers showed up from across the state and were welcomed and given places to stay, given food, given the tools that they would need to do the things that they wanted to do to help. You know, it was amazing to see and to hear stories of how people from this part of Texas checked in on each other, helped each other out, gave each other what they needed.

[Jennifer Lopez]

And this feels like a sacred space now because of all that happened afterwards. And like, like I mentioned before, I can't imagine leaving now because all of the rescue and the kindness made it even more home.

[Aaron Parsley]

I understood what she meant because Jennifer was one of those people for me and for my sister.

[Jennifer Lopez]

I remember distinctly, I walked out there and I saw Alyssa and she had said something to. I lost my. My son. And I remember locking up, thinking, oh, dear God. I. I don't know. And then a beat or two later, I don't know, it was like a switch had flipped. And I thought, I know what this is. I knew that feeling of, if I scream loud enough, this will not be true. I can stop this by sheer will of my panic,

[Aaron Parsley]

the sense of disbelief and wanting to, you know, something that just happened, wanting to fix it was. I kind of remember that myself.

[Jennifer Lopez]

You can't reconcile. You're completely at conflict. Reality no longer seems real. This is not happening. And if I fight it, if I negate this enough, it will not be true. And I. I felt like she had to know that it's okay. Right now you are safe to be panicked, and we're here with you. And yes, this is the worst moment of your life.

[Aaron Parsley]

That poise, that perspective that she offered us, it wasn't just from her background as a nurse. It's also because of something in her own life. About 10 years ago, her first husband drowned right in front of her. This was in another river in central Texas during a swim in a triathlon.

[Jennifer Lopez]

And it was just an 800 meter swim. And he was within maybe 20 meters of the shore and went under with

[Aaron Parsley]

help From a lifeguard. Jennifer pulled her husband out of the water, but it was too late.

[Jennifer Lopez]

So I remember how that felt. As soon as I heard Alyssa, I thought, oh, yeah, that's what you mean when you say you need this question. Yeah, exactly. Uh huh. I'm so sorry, to be honest with you. I look back and I think, oh, my goodness, I should have done X, Y, and Z. I should have done this faster. But for whatever was offered there, I'm very grateful that the circle came around.

[Aaron Parsley]

I noticed the necklace Jennifer had on, something she'd mentioned to me before. It was a silver charm from the jeweler James Avery, who'd been selling them to raise money for flood relief. The charm was in the shape of Texas with an empty heart cut out over the hill country. She'd bought one for her and one for my sister.

[Jennifer Lopez]

So the women that I work with, they all have exactly the same charm. And I told them all about Clay. So we all wear these every single day in honor of. Of Kalei.

[Aaron Parsley]

That's so wonderful to hear. And I just want you to know that it means so much to me and my sister, and it's. It's what she wants to hear right now. You know, so much of it is, how are you doing? And making sure that she's taking care of herself and getting back to normal. But I think there is this really deep desire to remember Clay and to know that people care about him and about who he was and his life. And I know you've never met him, but to know that you're thinking about him is. I really don't have words for how much I appreciate that, and my sister does, too. Sometimes I think he gets lost in all of this. And so it means a lot that you guys think about him, even if you. Even if you didn't have a chance to meet him.

[Jennifer Lopez]

There are a whole herd of mothers here that remember Clay. And July 4th around here is going to be in honor of him.

[Aaron Parsley]

While I was here, there was one more thing I needed to do. We stepped out onto the porch and walked down the stairs towards the riverbank. Mickey, you and I are going to have a disagreement about something.

[Mike]

Okay. About the tree.

[Aaron Parsley]

The tree. After the flood, Mickey sent me a photo of their backyard and circled a pecan tree, which she thought was the tree that I'd been in. But I remembered being in a different tree. It was actually the tree right next to it, the hackberry. Do you see where that branch is broken off right there? Yeah, I remember it looked sharp.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Aaron Parsley]

And like, if I didn't pay attention. I might hurt myself on it. And I was trying to break it off with my foot, and I couldn't do it, which made me feel like the tree was really strong and that it was going to hold me despite the water. And it's a lot higher than I thought. It looks skinny, and I don't know, I'm surprised by how, like, small it is, but it is much higher than I thought. Looks like there's a little woodpecker up there.

[Mike]

Little woodpecker? Yeah.

[Aaron Parsley]

In my tree.

[Lance]

Jeez.

[Aaron Parsley]

I feel like this is the tree that saved my life. Sounds weird, but I really do feel that way. And this is a strong tree. Yeah. Man, I can almost feel like I remember how this bark felt. And I guess right over here is where Alyssa was in this live oak.

[Mike]

Yes.

[Jennifer Lopez]

Wow.

[Aaron Parsley]

The leaning one.

[Patrick Michaels]

That's it.

[Aaron Parsley]

You see where it splits right there. Rosemary was hanging on with her hands, like, hugging that smaller branch that comes out right there. And Alyssa, I just remember seeing her pull Rosemary's hands off a tree, picking her up and dropping her, and she landed right in that inner tube. Dead center.

[Mike]

Yes. It was like slow motion.

[Patrick Michaels]

Yeah.

[Aaron Parsley]

That's got to be, what, 20ft?

[Patrick Michaels]

Oh, yeah.

[Mike]

Oh, yeah.

[Aaron Parsley]

At least.

[Patrick Michaels]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Well, look at the debris up there.

[Aaron Parsley]

Mike pointed up in the trees, and you could see scraps of things that the floodwaters had swept into the branches. Impossibly high up. Oh, yeah, Right up there on this branch, which is probably. I don't know, I want to say that's 30ft up there.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Aaron Parsley]

These banks had been lined with cypress trees hundreds of years old. Now, there were craters where the river had taken these massive trees and their roots, but not all of them. Some were still here, scarred by the impact of cars and pieces of houses, but still here. Mike, who has spent so much time studying this bend in the river, told me something else had changed.

[Mike]

But the river has completely changed course. This was the main channel over here. See where it's moving? And it had a nice set of rapids and everything, you know, where you could get in a kayak. So everything in the middle was this island, and it was all lush and green and. And beautiful. Now it's a history book because it's never going to look like this again. But, I mean, that's okay. It's the nature of everything. I mean, things change,

[Aaron Parsley]

you know? Things do change. Good to see you, Vicky. Thank you so much. Thank you. I will. I will let them know for sure. Y' all take care.

[Mike]

Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

[Aaron Parsley]

And already so much has changed since this flood, and this is just the beginning. On the next episode of where the River Took Us, after we were able to digest the entire scope of what happened and talking to each other, then it's like, why did this happen, not the flood? You know, I hear the word act of God mentioned quite a bit. And yeah, that's the weather, but we've been predicting the weather for thousands of years. Where the River Took Us is a Texas monthly production written and hosted by me, Aaron Parsley. Executive producer is Melissa Reese produced and edited by Patrick Michaels and Sarah Kinney produced, engineered and scored by Brian Standifer story editing by J.K. nichol fact checking by Doyen Oyeni art by Emily Kimbrough and Victoria Milner. Studio music musicians are Jeff Queen and Peter Schultz.