COPEVILLE, Texas -- Cody Wisdom told News 8 that he had to start from nothing.
The Murphy resident, who has fireworks stands throughout North Texas, lost his Copeville stand and the adjacent office in the December 2015 tornado
"Every time I look at that foundation it's a daily reminder," he said.
Wisdom points to a concrete slab that was once his old store. It's now in the parking lot of his newly built fireworks superstore.
Wendy Sanders admitted to News 8 that she hadn't returned to the location of her day care in a year. The Farmersville resident lost her day care just across the street from where Wisdom lost his fireworks stand.
"It's pretty touching to come back," she said. "I kind of avoided it."
Just as you drive over the bridge on State Highway 78 into Copeville, you will immediately see two corners on the same road tell two very different stories.
"It's just a different corner now," Sanders said.
The gas pumps are on their side. One building is barely standing and it reads in spray paint, "Looters will be shot." Another corner is frozen in time while the other is the mark of progress.
"I was determined that I was going to rebuild," said Wisdom, who has built a 6,000 square foot USA Fireworks Superstore.
Cody Wisdom has opened up his fireworks superstore almost exactly a year after it was taken away.
Wendy's return to the area is not an easy one. She knew the two people who died in the area. She also wishes the one corner that has changed little didn't look that way.
"It's a sad place now," Sanders said. "It's not full of life and kids and fun and people and neighbor."
It's unclear what the property owner's plan for the corner. Wisdom can only hope the progress on his corner spurs something.
"I think it gives the Copeville residents a sense of hope that we can recover and rebuild," Wisdom said.
It's a place where so much has and hasn't happened in a year.
"Life goes on and Copeville is coming back," Sanders said.
