Watching the video of the destruction left behind by the incredible spate of tornadoes in the South this week was enough to make me sad.

Seeing the words “Downtown Jackson, Tennessee” made me want to jump in the car and go there to see for myself what was left. I have an investment there that means more to me than the $100 it cost.

Half of Jackson was nearly blown off the map on May 4, 2003; I was sent there on assignment by CNN to report on the aftermath and the recovery efforts, but I didn’t count on getting the history lesson I found there.

We selected a live broadcast location next to a heavily damaged brick church. I interviewed the Pastor Darryl Coleman and learned that the church was of special significance for tens of thousands of African-American worshipers. Mother Liberty CME Church is so named because it is the birthplace of the first Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (CME). It was founded and built in Jackson by newly freed slaves in 1870 as a symbol of liberty. A group of church officials soon joined us, and through their tears they told me of the various fires, floods, raids and other events this structure survived over the last century, and they showed me how you could see evidence of each in the layers of soot, mortar and stucco on the bricks scattered about.

That’s when Rev. Coleman came up with a great idea to help raise the funds to rebuild – selling the bricks in the piles for $100 each.

Mine is in my office by the window if you’d like to see it.