Lindsay McLeod McCrory’s 8-year-old daughter, Blakeley, was tied up on a Camp Mystic bus without shedding one tear on June 29th. She had some concerns – mainly about the food – but homesickness wasn’t one of them.
“She even made this comment like, ‘Mom will take a month off from you!’ McLeod McCrory laughs to Today.com. “Blakely was ready to have fun with her friends and be independent.”
As 50-year-old McLeod McCrory chases away, a wave of sadness settles above her, imagining how quiet Blakeley would become as she dances through the room. Her husband, Blake, passed away unexpectedly in March in 1959. But as a proud camp mystical alumni, mom is relieved to learn that Blakely is heading for an unforgettable summer.
Then, early July 4th, tragedy stuck along the Guadalupe River in central Texas, suddenly surged gun floods across Camp Mystic, resulting in 27 deaths, including 21 campers and six counselors.
Blakely loved musicals and played a role in the production of “Wicked” children. (Lindsey McClod McCrory)
McLeod McCrory had already set off on his long-awaited trip to Croatia on July 2nd with his sister and two nie. A family friend who works as a counselor at Camp Mystic has sent her regular updates.
“They say, ‘Blakeley is hilarious! She’s having a great time,” says McLeod McCrory.
She was on a boat in Europe when Camp Mystic sent out emails and began making desperate calls. Her phone began to buzz non-stop and bustle until they docked, and she figured out the magnitude of the situation.
She learns that over 26 feet of water have risen within 45 minutes, taking over the lowest cabin on the camp grounds.
She then learns that Blakely is missing.
“I dropped the phone on the table and started to shake,” says McLeod McCllory. Too overwhelming to make a call, she asks her sister to contact camp.
After Blakely’s death was confirmed, her mom found comfort in a letter from the camp. (Lindsey McClod McCrory)
“And they confirmed, Blakely hasn’t been explained,” she recalls. “It just sank my whole heart.”
She and her sister quickly returned to Houston. The flight felt endless, but McLeod McCrory stuck to hope.
“Even during DNA testing with other families whose children are missing, I kept thinking, “She’s somewhere. Maybe she’s lost. Maybe she’s hanging in a tree with her counselor,” says Mcred Macroley. She grabbed the rosary through what she called the “the whole process of unfamiliarity.”
On June 7th, McLeod McCrory received a devastating call that Blakely’s body had been recovered. Blakely is found wearing her green and white beaded camping mystical necklace.
McLeod McCrory says she didn’t break down. Instead, she felt the feeling that Blakely was “in heaven with her dad,” along with the brother Chance of McLeod McCllory, who passed away a few weeks ago in June.
“There was a scenario in my head. What if she was seriously injured and suffering?” says McLeod McCrory. “It brought me peace knowing she went right away.”
The moment she learned that Blakely had passed away, McLeod McCrory went outside with her loved one who came to support her.
“There’s this beautiful old cedar tree that we were admiring,” she said. “And then there are these lights. This one light kept flashing for a while, and finally it came back. My friend said, “Lindsay, it was a break. She’s fine.”
Jenna Bush Hager is open about the special connections that families camp Mystic amid the deadly flood that devastated their homeland in Texas over the weekend of July 4th.
“She’s happy,” says McLeod McCrory. She believes Blakely found the thrill in her unexpected adventure of evacuating the bed with a mattress in the middle of the night.
“One of her surviving counselors said she encouraged other campers not to be scared,” McLeod McCrory said.
A few days later, preparations for the funeral were underway and a letter arrived from Blakely. Among them, the rising third-year student shared that she was “good” and that the camp was “amazing” and that she was involved in tennis, horse riding and land sports.
“She asked me about the activities I did as a child, and she all ended up doing the same activities,” says McLeod McCrory, whose voice is stable but sad.
“I’m a tonk,” Blakely wrote her mother, referring to one of the two “tribes” that are sorted out when all the children in the camp arrive.
Then the second letter arrived. Blakely had an urgent request. She was thinking about what they were going forward and wanted to make sure her mom wasn’t planning on giving anything important to her.
Her sad mother smiled when she saw Blakely’s letter from the camp. (Lindsey McClod McCrory)
I read it “Dear Mama.” “Don’t give me my Barbie dream home.”
“I didn’t cry,” says McLeod McCrory. “It made me smile. When she wrote it, I could hear her little voice. I asked her which toys I could throw away, and at first her Barbie dream house was on the list.
People often tell McLeod McCrory that they don’t understand how she can be stronger. She says she is leaning heavily towards her faith. Sometimes she closes her eyes and photos. Camp Mystic is a place full of joy and memories.
“The magic of Camp Mystic is its sisters, but it is based on faith,” she says. She remembers Sunday service by Wednesday. The wind is making noises across the cypress trees.
“It was mental,” she says. “You’ve come close to God there.”
Lindsay McLeod McCrory and his late husband Blake, his late daughter Blake, and her son-in-law, Brady, 20;
At the moment she feels she has been overcome with grief and all the unanswered reasons, McLeod McCrory says she is channeling her late daughter.
“Blakeley had to witness the deaths of two of her dad and uncle. It didn’t kill her spirit,” she says. “It’s hard to deal with this unimaginable sadness, but by moving forward and living, you can decide to honor your loved ones, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”
McLeod McCrory’s week is full of funerals for children at Camp Mystic. Blakely’s is Friday.
“I look forward to having an embrace,” she says. “People don’t know what to say. There’s no words. It’s fine. The embrace says it all.”
This story first appeared on Today.com. More from today:
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