Jenna Bush Hager Reads Heartbreaking Letter From Daughter at Camp

Jenna Bush Hager’s daughter is feeling a little homesick amid her time away at summer camp. On Wednesday’s show, the Today show anchor read the emotional letter from her 8-year-old daughter Mila that broke her heart into “a million pieces” as the youngster requested that Hager and her husband Henry Chase Hager come pick her up.

Speaking with co-host Hoda Kotb, Hager revealed that she “got a letter last night that reminded me of a letter that I would write, and it broke my heart in a million pieces.” The mother of three, who is also mom to 5-year-old Poppy and 2-year-old Hal, went on to read the letter on-air. The letter began, “Dear Mom and Dad, I miss you. I wish I could be with you.” However, it was the final line that really tugged at the heartstrings, with little Mila closing the letter by writing, “P.S. Daddy, how much longer ’til you pick me up? I miss you too much. I need to stop crying. So goodbye. I miss you terribly, Mom and Dad.”

Hager went on to show the letter to the audience, telling viewers that she was so touched by the message that she took a picture of it and sent it to her parents, former President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush. She also said that her husband was so moved by the letter that he almost drove to get the 8-year-old. Hager recalled, “he goes, ‘Should we just go? Should I just go get her?’ I was like, ‘No, she’s fine.’”

Mila sent the letter as she remains at a three-week overnight summer camp. Hager told Today viewers in June that they had dropped Mila off at the camp, which is the very camp Hager went to as a child. Recalling the moment, Hager admitted she was emotional, and it was Mila who told her, “‘Don’t cry, Mommy,’ and I said, ‘I’m not going to cry.’” Hager said, “there was something about it because it’s the camp I went to as a little girl, so there was this nostalgia. Also, I got out of the car and she said, ‘Mommy, I have sunscreen in my eyes.’ But I knew she didn’t have sunscreen in her eyes. It was just this feeling of … she’s old! How is she old enough to go away from me for three weeks?”

Mila’s weeks-long summer camp experience comes just months after she marked her eighth birthday. To celebrate the special occasion, Hager penned a touching birthday post to her daughter, writing that her “creativity, leadership, empathy and heart INSPIRE” and recalling how “eight years ago you came into the world fast and spirited—making me a mom—changing me forever.”