A name that will forever have a bad taste in Texans' mouths.

A name that has devastated towns all along the Texas coast.

Harvey was announced on August 17th as a Tropical Storm. As a few days passed, Harvey weakened. Harvey was weak until Thursday, August 24th. He became a small Category 1, but quickly gained strength.

By Friday, the storm was a Category 4, with only miles away from hitting land.

Since hitting land on Friday night, Harvey has devastated many homes, schools, families, and cities. My hometown, Port Lavaca, was one of the towns hit while Harvey was still a Category 4.

In these dark times, there isn't much you can hold onto. It is in these times that you hold everyone you love close. You're reminded of why you're still on Earth.

In the darkest times, Hurricane Harvey actually became a reminder.

He has reminded us of friendship.

When you ask someone what they think of Texas, they assume we are all shooting guns or riding our horses everywhere. While that might be true in some sense, it isn't exactly true.

As of late, Texas, as a state, has had a wedge between us. Texans have been fighting one another: neighbors, friends, family, strangers.

As terrible as Hurricane Harvey was, it reminded us of our State Motto: Friendship.

Every where you look, you see Texans helping Texans. You see non-Texans helping Texans, and vice versa.

Why?

Why is it that it takes a natural disaster to bring out the good in us?

He has reminded us of family.

This is what everyone is seeing on their televisions. Texas is a giant family, and Harvey reminded us of that.

A big Houston name is Mattress Mack. This gentleman owns a few furniture stores called "Gallery Furniture." You may or may not have heard about them, except recently.

Jim McIngvale opened up his stores to the first responders and those in need of shelter, not even a day after Harvey hit.

Of all the things McIngvale has done for Houston, this is easily one of the best things to date. He's a grandfather/father to all of Houston, and for that we thank him for setting such an example.

For the other 49 states, we ask you to keep us in mind at your dinner tables. Texas is not back to normal yet, and we likely won't be for another couple of years at least.

We are a prideful state, but we welcome help. We just won't ask.

Thank you, Harvey, for reminding us about our values; we needed it.

Next time, be more gentle.