Abby Breyfogle wears a silver charm bracelet that represents her achievements at Camp Mystic, the all-girls Christian camp destroyed by the Independence Day floods. The former camper, who is now a student at the University of Texas, Austin, talks about the memories from the ten summers that she wears on her wrist.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
One month ago, heavy rains turned the Guadalupe River into raging waters that swept away homes, RVs and summer camps popular in central Texas. At the nearly 100-year-old Camp Mystic, 27 girls and counselors died when the river tore through. Audrey McGlinchy with member station KUT in Austin spoke to a former camper about the memories that she wears.
ABBY BREYFOGLE: Around my wrist is a silver bracelet, and it has a bunch of little charms that, like, look like cabins. And that’s for each year that I was there. My name is Abby Breyfogle, and I went to Camp Mystic for 10 years.
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BREYFOGLE: So it’s a cabin and a little illustration of whatever the cabin meant. So I got one that’s, like, Bug House and there’s a little bug on it. I have one for Cuckoo’s Nest and it’s a little bird, like, popping out of an egg in a little nest. The first one I have is my one from Twins. And that was my first year, so I was just really excited to, like, be in a cabin with all these, like, new girls and stuff. One of my favorite memories, just looking back, there was, like, at the very end, there was, like, a relay race, and so I got to start the relay race for, like, the entire camp. And I just, like, look back at that photo, which is so cute ’cause I’m holding hands with the girl in the other, like, competing group. And we’re about to, like, race off. And we’re holding hands and then we run.
That was the only worry you had, was just, like, what was going on at camp. You didn’t have to worry about what was going on back home. It was like a whole ‘nother (ph) world. And you could just, like, hang out with your friends. Like, there was no, like, screen to distract or anything like that. So it was really magical that way. My parents told me that it had flooded. And I didn’t really know what they were talking about exactly. And I had heard something that, like, everyone at Camp Mystic was safe, so I was like, OK, it’s fine. And then, like, slowly throughout as the day goes by, I’m like, they’re not OK. And it’s just shocking to me how this beautiful, age-old, like, institution has just been changed so drastically overnight.
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BREYFOGLE: When you drove into camp, there would be – like, to get dropped off – there’d be two green gates you’d go through, and then you would pass over the Guadalupe River. So there’d be a little bridge you could go over. Past, like, the mess hall and the auditorium area, there’d be all the cabins. And so the little cabins were close to the – like, where you’d eat and stuff, but it was still, like, far, far away from the water. Like, ’cause I remember as a kid walking towards the water when I was there, and I would be like, this is taking forever. And there was – it was still, like, a hill the water had to climb up to get to those cabins. It was – like, they were up on a hill, like, a significant hill.
I’d wear the charm bracelet, especially when I was at camp, to kind of, like, just show how long I’ve been there. One other one on there is there’s something called a mystic M. So there’s – it’s just a little M, and above it, it says mystic in small print. You would get it if you improved in an activity, is what they said. So if they really showed kindness and empathy towards other girls and just, like, really showed their all in an activity, they could maybe get a little silver M.
Bug House was, like, the first year that I did fishing. And that’s the one we got to do with Dick Eastland, who was one – he was the director who sadly passed away. And everyone wanted to do fishing. I don’t know why I waited so long to do it. I had caught, like, maybe two fish the entire time, but everyone had so much fun. Dick Eastland always tried to make sure you had a fish. And he was such a joy to be around. And so it really hurts that he’s no longer with us. I put the bracelet back on after the floods. I had always kept it in a safe spot just ’cause I didn’t want to lose it or anything like that. And I decided I’m going to put it back on after the flooding ’cause I needed something to keep close to me. And so I’m just going to keep it back on until the time feels right.
CHANG: KUT’s Audrey McGlinchy spoke to Abby Breyfogle. She’s now a student at the University of Texas at Austin.
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