Dr. Pearl Merritt (Survivor from Mesquite Heat Fire- her Daughter’s Perspective)
The Little Red Bible
By Dr. K
June 17, 2022……It has been one month since the devastating “Mesquite Heat Fire” of May 2022. It destroyed my family homeplace and parents’ homestead of nearly 40 years. In over 100 years, our have neighbors reported that the little community has never been leveled with a fire of such a magnitude. At least, we had never had one that destroyed homes and livestock.
While my parents waited out the fire for several days at the View Baptist Church, I realized that my mother, Dr. Pearl Merritt, was starting to show up in interviews rather quickly after the fire started. Although most people only retain about 10% about recent events during a traumatic event, she still had her wits about her and was providing ongoing on-camera interviews. She also managed to have a great camera presence- in spite of falling ash and debris. My mother gave multiple and excellent interviews during that time, and I believe she was a great source of encouragement for her neighbors, friends, and families. It was a blessing for those of us that knew her to see that Gracie was right along beside her.
I think we were all a little more surprised when we realized JB Merritt had given a couple interviews himself. He did a good job, and the crews captured some sweet photos of he and his dogs. The funny thing was how nonchalant he was about the entire thing. My mom had no idea he had even been interviewed- perhaps until his picture was in the paper? I’m not positive about that. Lol
Anyway, for our family, my mom’s most notable interview was an interview on May 19, 2022, two days following her harrowing escape from the blazing Mesquite Heat Fire. My mother, Dr. Pearl Merritt, still had her wits about her in the face of a major emergency and life trauma and 
revealed, “I knew that all of our pictures and all of our mementos, and everything I saved for years, and years was going to be gone…. But as long as I had that Bible, I was good.” she explained, I just grabbed it and thought, “Mother is up there and thinking about us and praying for us. It made me feel strong.” She added, “We will always think of Mother and know she was looking down and praying for us too and had the angels surrounding us.”
That little red Bible was only one of a handful of things that my mother was able to grab from her house within a period of about 5 minutes. The firefighters later told her that the fire reached 4500 degrees. It burned everything in its pathway, totaling 10, 960 acres.
Her goal is to pass that little red Bible down to myself and then my daughters. It is such a testimony of faith and resilience after the fire.
So, what is the history of that precious little red Bible? It was a gift from Nana, only a few weeks prior to her passing. Nana passed away about a year and a half ago. Now, that Bible is a priceless treasure. I always wondered my Nana wrote in her Bible. As my Papa preached day long revivals, in the sweltering heat, I halfway slept and halfway kept an eye on what Nana was writing in the margins. That red leather Bible was worn from daily reading. It had tear stains on it. It probably had some sweat stains on it too from those hot Oklahoma services. It had birth dates, death dates, and anniversary dates. I think the hardest date Nana wrote in that Bible was Papa’s death date. They were married for 63 years.
Nana wrote the dates of Papa’s sermons and often added comments that were her own or what he preached. It was a special Bible. Little did we know that that Bible would last in multiple generations and even a rampant wildfire that leveled over 10,000 acres of land, homes, livestock, pets, and likelihoods.
The same fire was later declared a natural disaster. Like the word of God contained within those delicate pages, that Bible endured the heat in the fire, and it was our source of strength for the difficult times to come. Not surprisingly, the miracles have not stopped there. Little kisses from Heaven have continued to give us hope in the following days.
Henderdon, Tyler
Posted: May 19. 2022Bible Interview
“Mesquite Heat Fire victim loses everything, finds strength in mother’s Bible.”
