WACO, Texas — On May 25, Cassandra Auldridge lost everything she owned in a house fire.
"What didn't get caught on fire, the water damage got to the rest of it," Auldridge told 25 News.
"People look at it as, 'Oh, it's just stuff', but when your mom is gone and everything she gave you burned, it's really hard because she's never going to give me anymore stuff."
Despite all the loss, she said that's not the memory of the night she holds on to. Instead, she remembers the bravery and heroism of her grandson, Anthony.
The ten-year-old was the first to wake up that night. He said he started to leave but couldn't without his 6-year-old brother, OJ.
"I was thinking about just running out, but I didn't want to leave my brother and my mom so I went to go get them," he said.
"I realized he wasn't behind me so I went to go back in and pick him up and carry him out. We tried to get to my mom, but we couldn't."
The boys made it to a neighbor's house where they called 911 and their grandma, who wasn't home at the time. Firefighters were able to get their mom out just a few minutes later.
"When I saw the house, I just freaked out because I didn't know I was in all of that," Anthony said.
"As much as him and his little brother argue, to hear that even after he saw the fire and how bad it was to hear he went back for his brother, I think it's pretty heroic because even a lot of adults wouldn't do that," Auldridge said.
The last few months have been hard for the family as they work to recover and rebuild. While they did lose a lot of their belongings, Auldridge said as long as they’re together, she knows they will be okay.
"We're going to be alright," she said. "I know we're going to be alright. Once we get in the house, we'll be having family dinners and that's what it's all about, being back together as a family."
The family has a GoFundMe set up to help them as they prepare to move back into the home in just a few weeks.
