Camp Mystic alumni mourn, remember and carry on

DALLAS — Camp Mystic is more than a place. It is a legacy.

For almost a century, Texas girls have spent summers on the banks of the Guadalupe River.

The daughters of former governors and President Lyndon B. Johnson attended. Former First Lady Laura Bush was once a counselor.

Generations have been to the non-denominational Christian camp where character, confidence and sisterhood are shaped.

“They almost feel like more than family because of the bonds you make,” said a former Mystic camper of the lifelong friendships she made.

Camp Mystic’s website features archived photos – some from as far back as the first time in 1926. Faith and fun are ever-present in pictures and videos through the years.

And the backdrop was always the river. The same river that on the morning of July 4 took almost 30 lives – campers as young as 8 years old, counselors in their late teens, and longtime camp director Dick Eastland.

“Dick Eastland died trying to save the campers he loved, and there’s no other place on earth I’d want my little girl to be — where she’s loved so much that somebody else would die trying to save her,” said one former camper.

In the immediate days after the tragedy, vigils brought together hundreds of alumni across the state.

In Dallas, they gathered at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas at a private event. Some attendees flew in for 24 hours just to attend the service.

Others held hands and prayed at a service in Houston, singing soothing camp songs. Those vigils are now giving way to funerals.

Victims, so many victims, are being honored and remembered.

This flood has shown the world that the Texas Hill Country is not just a region on a map. And a camp on Guadalupe is not just a place for summer fun.

Something carried inside.