Jenna Bush Hager is sharing her personal connection to Camp Mystic: her mom, Laura Bush, was a counselor.
“My mom was a counselor there,” Bush Hager, 43, said on the Monday, July 7, episode of the Today show. “But also so many of my friends were raised at this camp. Texas camps are institutions. … This camp was 100 years old. So grandmothers, mothers, kids have all gone there. My mom was a drama counselor there.”
Bush Hager noted that “many” of her friends had their children at the camp last week, adding that the stories she heard over the past couple days were both “beautiful and heartbreaking.”
“Texas has a type of resilience where they’re generous people, where people want to reach out and help. Texas camps are really special because you’re thinking about 90-degree weather, no air conditioning,” she said.
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Bush Hager explained that her children, whom she shares with husband Henry Hager, are also at camps in Texas. (The couple, who tied the knot in 2008, share daughters Mila, 12, and Poppy, 9, and son Hal, 5.)
“My kids are at camp in Texas and my husband said, ‘Why are we sending out kids to Texas to camp? It’s hot,’” she said. “And it’s because of the love that’s there.”
The Today With Jenna & Friends host also paid tribute to Dick Eastland, who served as the owner of the camp and died while trying to save the campers.
“The Eastland family is Texas royalty. They raised so many girls and his son, who has passed as well, went to [the University of] Texas, where I went,” she shared. “But so many of my friends said he was their summer father. He looked out for his campers. He raised girls to be brave and loving and his legacy will live on.”
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Flash floods in Texas began on Friday, July 4, and have killed more than 80 people, including 27 campers and counselors at Camp Mystic.
“Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy. We are praying for them constantly,” Camp Mystic’s website read. “We have been in communication with local and state authorities who are tirelessly deploying extensive resources to search for our missing girls.”
The statement continued, “We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of support from community, first responders and officials at every level. We ask for your continued prayers, respect and privacy for each of our families affected. May the Lord continue to wrap His presence around all of us.”
