Editor’s Note: This photo essay is published in partnership with The Texas Tribune.
I walked into an apartment slipping and stumbling on mud so thick I couldn’t see the floor underneath. The table in the dining room was set, decorated with charger plates, flowers, and napkins nicely folded. The mud and debris covered everything. On the wall, I saw a red, white, and blue garland with American flags, a reminder that the day prior had been the Fourth of July. I tried to imagine the life, or lives, that had been lived in this place. A pair of sunglasses, left behind, caught my eye.
