I’m Greg. I currently work in Construction Management in the Texas Hill Country and met Bill Huston in March.
My wife and I grew up and met in San Antonio, kids born in Austin, and have been coming to Kerrville all our lives for the river and Hill Country. Geographically this is Canyon Country. Carved.
My mom is in late stage dementia, we’ve been thinking she won’t be with us much longer. She’s not eating. She cuddled with me the other day.
Jenn operates an online store, Uncle Jenn’s World. Kes has been staying with us since December. She’s a Wildland Firefighter, Ski Instructor, and all around bad ass. Sunny showed up Tuesday from Bend, Oregon where she is an advocate for women and children. She’s been a caregiver since forever. She took all her PTO to come home & chill. Austin is living in Durango, CO, an adventure video/photographer with so many accomplishments and a huge heart. Austin has an epic private set of photos of the homeless (unhoused?), and he connects deeply with his subjects.
My family is cooler than me. I work hard to help fund it all cause I turned out smart, likely from my mom’s side of things. We’re going through her stuff, and damn.
Mom’s family comes from the Texas Hill Country region we now live – Uvalde, Sabinal, Austin… a bunch of Rheiners and Davenports with a Smith in there. My last name is White. Jenn was a Trevino. I think I really screwed up by not just taking her last name. Dad left when I was 10.
Jenn & I have been empty nesting before buying our first house in 20 years in Kerrville after two decades of RV life. We’re helping out parents with elder care from San Antonio through the Corpus area.
We love it here more everyday.
Bill brings his dog Sage to work. On July 3 at 2:14pm I snap my first picture of him. He’s trying to figure out where to relocate temporary walls in Kerrville, and his dog Sage gives up on barking at me and lays on him. WTF! that’s so damn cute! – I pull my phone camera up to snap Sage on his leg, and at the last minute lift it to include his face. He says that better not end up on the fucking internet.
He would not appreciate this. Come at me, bro.
His last name is Huston. Not Houston. Cooler than White. He’s a badass Senior Superintendent renovating at the local hospital. He lives for work. He’s a bit of a loner.
We worked together years ago, but not sure we ever met. Traveling Superintendent is a thing. It’s a part of how I helped raise my family on the road and why our kids love the mountains so much.
Supers roam the country living in an RV for months at a time. Bill would be around here for about a year after showing up around early March. We started to become friends over a lot of shared experiences & interests. We think we believe at opposite sides of the spectrum. We become good friends.
He found a great spot on the river and talked about staying here. He liked it a lot.
Bill lives for his dog(s). He still chokes up talking about his recently deceased. Sage goes everywhere with him. He leaves his trucks running all the time so she’s air conditioned.
Kerrville’s annual 4th of July celebration is happening on the river tomorrow. Bill’s been telling me all week he’s probably going to Sherman, Texas to hang out with his cousin, Cinda. He’d be called a loner. We’re his people here. He came up for dinner and bear hugged my wife.
We’re planning to stay on our ridge and watch our neighbors fireworks. I may light off the ones our neighbor that moved gave us. We’re hoping for good neighbors because two houses are empty nearby.
I’m not sure if I formally invited Bill to the house, but I believe he would’ve come. When he did, he had no inhibitions to look at our stuff, help himself to the M&M’s. He told us our house felt like a home. He made my wife and daughter so comfortable they defended their beliefs, and he graciously respected them while being vocal about his contrasting beliefs. I’ll keep saying it, he bear hugged my wife. She thinks she may have even come off the ground. It was meaningful.
Thursday night, July 3rd, we’re texting at 10:24pm, hopeful towards our coming days.
