This is a picture of our evacuation from the Bastrop Fire on Labor Day, September 4, 2011. Peter is in the truck in front of me; Buck the Adorable Dog is in the truck; Jennifer is with me. Poor Jennifer came down to visit her mother and ended up being evacuated!

The winds that day were blowing up to 45 mph; the back side of the hurricane that was moving up the east coast. It was like we were in Abilene, not Bastrop; we had trouble opening our car doors because the wind was so strong.

In the picture, the fire is directly in front of us. You can't see in the picture, but you could see the horrible red flames just beyond the smoke. As we were sitting in the traffic jam, all I could think was "Heaven Forbid that the wind shifts just for a moment in our direction." We went to the Bastrop Middle School Evacuation Center and just watched the huge fire. As the sun was going down, you could see the little explosions each time a house caught on fire. And we just wondered which explosion was going to be one of our houses. It was a horrifying, terrifying experience.

We stayed in Austin the following week, sitting on pins and needles every day and every night waiting for any news about our homes and our friends. I believe almost 1500 homes were lost in that fire and that is all in Bastrop County. It is a true disaster. 94 families lost their homes that go to the Catholic Church in Bastrop, if that is any indication. Everyone that lives in Bastrop either lost their home, or they know close friends that lost their homes.

I am thankful that our house survived, as did my parents' house. I am also thankful that we were allowed back in our house before all the chemo started. It was so hard for me to think and wonder about how we were going to do all this if our house had burned down. Just too much to even contemplate.