Texas man reflects a year after deadly Hill Country flooding left 10 bodies on his land: "One foot in front of the other"

"You know, ten times, heaven touched the earth out here, and it's kind of a sacred ground," said Mike Richards while looking along his little patch of the Guadalupe River. 

For Richards, this little patch was his dream. Love comes true is the way he says it.  

"We had fishing tournaments with family and friends. We spent a lot of time down here and now, you know, I don't know if it'll ever be the same, because we're not the same," said Richards.

CBS News Texas first met Richards last July. He lost his cabin on the Guadalupe when the river rose.

But what he found will forever stay with him. Richards discovered the bodies of 10 people who died in the flood. At the time, he said he couldn't sleep until he knew every person on his land had been found.  

"I just want to lay my head down on my pillow and say 'I don't think anymore of them are on my land'. I owe that as a father, as a grandfather," Richards told us last July.

Today, there are no more bodies left to bury, but those sleepless nights remain.

"From July 4th to, well, I guess today, I've watched the sun come up," said Richards. 

Those ten souls still weigh heavily on his heart.

"I wasn't prepared for it. I don't know how any man could be prepared for that. I think it's just a broken heart; it's what it does to you. And man, I ain't had it broken like that before," said Richards.

But there can still be beauty in a broken heart. There's one spot on Richard's land where the Guadalupe slows to a babbling brook at the base of a tree. Now, it's a place of reflection.

"That counselor from Camp Mystic was found at the base of that tree," said Richards. 

The volunteers who helped Richards retrieve her body marked it with a cross – another reminder of what happened here. 

"It's something special to be a little counselor and helping all those kids. All she did was wanting to have fun that weekend," said Richards.

But he's determined not to let this overwhelming sadness define him and the land he loves so much.  

He wants to reclaim it for himself, take back ownership of his life and his land. For himself and for the ten people who came to rest here. 

This sacred ground, where heaven touched the earth ten times.

"I want to build a big pavilion where I can have barbecues and stuff like that. Those that want to come up here that spent time out here with us searching, man, I want them to come up here and enjoy themselves. See what the Guadalupe is like on good terms, on our terms," he said.

Because even after everything that's changed for Richards and the Hill Country, he's choosing to move forward. 

"You can wake up every day and decide what kind of day it's going to be. Are you going to have a good day, or look at everything in the past and dwell on it? That don't do anybody any good. So I'm just going to keep putting one foot in front of the other and see what happens," he said

Just like the river, life keeps moving, even after the storm.