"The Boardwalk is Broken" said Chase today.

i am abundantly grateful that our home, my parent’s home, and my grandmother’s home was spared with the exception of a tree and some fences down. a small child prayed the night of the hurricane that “God would send sparkly angels down to surround our house and protect it.” that little boy’s prayer was honored. despite the devastation and magnitude of the storm…the sparkly angels came. our house was spared. in the place of my birth and our home town, however, houses and businesses were destroyed in a way that i have never seen personally. when i left the safety and miracle of my home today to travel to one of our family’s favorite places to go, i was overcome with emotions of sadness and despair. the kemah boardwalk is a tourist attraction for many…but for us it was a traditional family outing. our kids have grown up going there and take for granted that it was a mere 10 minutes from our house. for us…it was as common as mcdonalds. sometimes we would do it up right…eating…riding all the rides…and topping it off with ice cream or coffee. or sometimes, i would take the kids there during the week to stroll around…eat a picnic and play at the playground. sometimes, we would sit and watch the live music on summer nights, and sometimes we would be entertained by “boo on the boardwalk” during the month of october. we would always feel the magic of the sounds and lights of the rides…and would take friends and family there when they would come for a visit…becoming the favorite place for all the kids and adults as well. no one is allowed into the boardwalk now. the carnival music can’t be heard. the lights are out. as we were driving through the area that once elicited screams of excitement from the kids and a childlike joy from their chaperones, chase…who was sadly looking out the window said, “mommy…the boardwalk is broken.”