Mom was grieving 8-yr-old daughter lost in Texas floods — everything changed when she found the last letter written by her
Something very simple might help a grieving person heal or find some form of closure. A mom found closure through her eight-year-old daughter's letter after the girl died at Camp Mystic during Texas floods. The girl, McCory, had been to the camp for the first time this year and was very excited to be there until the tragedy happened. Her last letter, found among her belongings in her cabin, helped her mom navigate the loss, per PEOPLE.
Blakely's mom, Lindsey McLeod McCrory, had also attended the camp as a girl and so had her sisters, stepsisters and stepmother. The camp is situated on the banks of the Guadalupe River in Texas Hill Country and Blakely was super enthusiastic about her trip. "She could not wait to be in the outdoors. It was like having the biggest sleepover you can imagine as a little girl, because you're in a cabin with 11 girls who become your best friends, right?" the mom pointed out. "You get to do all of these fun activities for four weeks. You get to do horseback riding, swimming, basketball, fishing — everything she loved to do." On July 4, the mom heard that there was flooding at the camp, but wasn't worried at first.
She just thought that her daughter and all the campers would spend a day inside, like she had done during the floods of 1987. "They're probably having a blast. Because that's what I remembered, 'Oh, rainy day, stay in your cabin, play board games, or listen to music, whatever. It's going to pass.'" Lindsey recounted. She was in Europe with her younger sister at that time. But a few hours later, the woman got a call from her friend who told her how the river near the camp was overflowing because of the heavy rains and many campers hadn't been accounted for at the site. Lindsey went through her voicemails and found one from the camp that told her that her daughter was missing.
Blakely's older half-brother and his mom went to the evacuation center in Ingram, Texas, to look for the girl, but they couldn't find her. In the meantime, Lindsey and her sister had booked a flight on July 5 to come back. They had no news of the girl until Sunday. On Monday night, the woman learned that her daughter had been found dead and was glad that she was surrounded by loved ones and knew what had happened to her daughter. "I think the most terrifying part of this ordeal was the confirmation that she was unaccounted for originally. Because I always had this fear of someone kidnapping her and just not knowing what happened to her. That was the biggest, the fear of the unknown."
The phone call gave the mom a sense of closure. The girl had recently lost her dad to stage 2 cancer and Lindsey had lost her brother. "She was a live wire, just had a fun, spirited attitude, the type of child that doesn't stay down for long." The mom remembered her daughter as a "resilient" child. One of the counselors told her mom that Blakely told people to "not be afraid." Her mom found a letter and other belongings from her cabin that comforted her a little. "Dear Mom, How are you? I am good," the girl wrote. She was looking forward to tennis and horseback riding, according to the pre-filled letter with blanks. The woman was happy that her daughter was having a good time before the incident. "I'm just so grateful to keep her spirit alive. I want to be the type of mom that honors my daughter and keeps that spirit close."
If a disaster (natural or human‑caused) has left you distressed, and you need help, please reach out to the Disaster Distress Helpline at 1‑800‑985‑5990 (call or text). samhsa.gov