Mother thankful for family’s health

Published 12:46 am Saturday, May 10, 2014

0502 Hindmon Family

 

Tomorrow is a day to be thankful for mothers and all they do throughout the year, but one young mother, A new Andalusia resident, will be thinking about how thankful she is this Mother’s Day.

Andrea Hindmon moved to Andalusia two months ago with her 19-month-old son, Liam, and husband, Eric, who has taken a job at Blue Lake. Added to the stress of a family move from Indiana was a year’s worth of unexplained health issues.

“In May of 2012, Eric had a heart attack,” Hindmon said. “It was unexplained. He was in normal health for someone his age. It was pretty massive, but God was gracious. He has had a stint and his heart is back to where it should be now.”

Almost exactly a year later, it was her son who dealt with a sudden illness.

“In May of 2013 Liam had a seizure-like spell and they found out he had an unexplained brain bleed,” she said. “They thought they had found something at one point and then that turned out to be nothing. It was kind of a good and bad thing, because there was no damage or disability, but they didn’t know what caused it, either.”

Last August, Andrea herself was the victim of a sudden health crisis when an abscess in her abdomen required surgery.

“I didn’t have any of the normal sickness or symptoms involved with it,” she said.

Now, a year removed from the family’s last health scare, Hindmon says she is a happy mom – and is settling into her new home because of other moms in the Andalusia area.

“I was a part of MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) in Indiana, so I really wanted to get involved with the one here as quickly as possible,” she said. “After I came home from the first meeting and was talking to my husband about my friends, he was like, ‘Wow, your friends? Already?’”

With a support group of other mothers, coupled with her family’s faith in God, Hindmon said she is ready to celebrate tomorrow’s holiday during a month she said she has almost come to dread.

“Because both the things with Eric and Liam happened in May, we just wanted to skip the month,” she said. “But I know everything that has happened is God’s plan. All of our lives are a gift. It really helps you to understand what your priorities are.”

Of all days of the year, tomorrow is the one to make moms like Hindmon the top priority.