HUNT. Texas – In the small river towns that dot the Guadalupe River in Kerr County, you can’t look far without seeing devastation.
Piles of debris, shredded cars and homes that stand no more.
But amid all that destruction are signs of love - literally.
Spray painted on pieces of metal, discarded appliances and even large rocks are signs that, just for a minute, let you know that someone else is cares about you and you’re not alone.
“Well, professionally, I’m retired from insurance brokerage and military,” said David Graham. “But my life is, my family’s life, my wife and I’s life is disaster relief. We go into a community, and instead of being first responders, we’re first impactors.”
When he rolls into town, people know him by ‘Cowboy Dave.’
He’s the man behind the signs and the nonprofit Hearts Hurt?
Cowboy Dave has travelled the nation responding to disasters to spread love and positivity.
His latest stop is bringing Hearts Hurt to the Texas Hill Country.
Gage Goulding: “What does Hearts Hurt mean?”
Cowboy Dave: “Everybody can relate to a hurting heart. It’s okay for them, for a window of time, to mourn, to say, ‘My heart is broken. I don’t need more barbecue. I don’t need more hand sanitizer. I need my heart fixed.’”
He uses spray paint to create the signs that he then spreads around the community.
In Hunt and Ingram, they’re on pieces of metal from buildings, a large rock near the Guadalupe River and what looks like a piece of bedding strewn on the guard rail.
“They drive by their community and they see hell and then they’re like, that’s nice,“ he said. ”And I’m gone, so it’s anonymous. Isn’t that great?”
Cowboy Dave has helped heal well over 40 communities struck by natural disasters.
But what he’s seeing in the Hill Country is different.
“This is the worst thing I’ve ever seen,” he said.
It’s what inspired him to create a special sign just for the Hill Country.
On a big boulder that the raging Guadalupe River seemingly dropped off the bank of the river is his canvas.
Cowboy Dave is leaving behind his most recognized creation: a healed red heart.
“My whole purpose of what I do is to give someone 15 seconds to drive by and be like, what the heck, or that’s nice. And they deserve it,” he said.
