Heidi
is a Southern California girl. She was born in Fullerton close to LA at St.
Jude's hospital. She was raised in El Cajon just outside of San Diego. She
loves Southern California and the beach where she grew up about 20 minutes
away. She has 3 older brothers and is the oldest of 3 girls that followed.
Heidi's
favorite thing about growing up was her family. She loved how safe and peaceful
her home felt. The spirit was there, and even her friends who were not LDS
commented on the special feeling that was in their home. Because of the
wonderful family she was given, she feels the weight of the scripture,
« Where much is given much is required. »
She
entered Middle School as any student would, happy, full of anxiety, and pre-teen
angst. At the end of 7th grade, she went in for a routine health
examination that all schools used to administer. They checked Heidi's spine and
realized she had slight case of scoliosis. They informed her and her parents
but were told it wasn't that big of a deal at the present.
But
that summer the situation with Heidi's back quickly turned. It wasn't “no big
deal”. In fact it became a very big deal. She spent the summer in so much pain.
Her back and stomach hurt because the bones along her back were shifting and
her muscles were fighting to pull it into alignment. Heidi's mom took her back
to the doctor and found out over the summer Heidi had gone from a 20% curvature
to a 45% curvature. The family started looking into options. They consulted a
chiropractor and 2 orthopedic surgeons. After careful contemplation and much
prayer, they decided surgery was needed.
To
make matters worse, because of Heidi's physical problems regarding her back,
she started getting bullied at school. When the bullying started, Heidi's mom
decided enough was enough. She pulled Heidi out of school a little earlier than
they expected and arranged for a tutor to home school her immediately. Heidi
was then home schooled until the end of eighth grade. Surgery was a great
blessing to Heidi. In fact, it stopped most of Heidi's back issues until after
the birth of her 3rd child.
Heidi
says the things she went through in regards to her back were a great trial but
also a great blessing in her life. It humbled her from a very young age. It
made her learn to completely rely on the Lord and His spirit for direction. Not
only that, but the tutors she had while home schooling helped her to see things
from unique perspectives as well. One was a former nun and one was a total
hippie. This combined with the many friends Heidi had of different faiths gave
her a great acceptance and love for people of diverse backgrounds.
After
recovering from her surgery, she went on to have a very fun high school
experience. She was a part of the performance choir at her High School and was
recruited by the wrestling coach to be a manger for the wrestling team. She
developed a great love for the wrestling coach who had graduated from BYU but
was not LDS. He did however love the LDS kids. Because the wrestlers knew she
was LDS, they would often ask her challenging questions about her faith. This
was a great testimony builder to Heidi as well. When she turned 16, Heidi
started dating a boy in her ward who had recently moved from Salt Lake City.
She liked listening to him talk about his group of friends back home. He said
they did everything together and really helped each other choose the right. She
was even able to meet this group of friends during a summer that she attended
EFY in Provo. One of them was a guy named Tom Thackeray. She thought they were
all awesome and wished she had a group like that in California.
After
Heidi graduated, she went to Ricks College for 2 years. She loved it. She said
she made many dear memories at the school. She loved how small it was and that
you could really get to know many of the people. She still has close friends
from her time there.
After
graduating with her associates degree, she came home to California and started
working in the mailroom of a big law firm downtown San Diego. She really
enjoyed it there and had a memorable time riding the trolley to and from work
every day. But after a year there, she started having a great deal of
restlessness. She felt she needed to move on to a new adventure. After much
prayer, she enrolled in BYU's summer program and moved to Provo. It was during
that summer that she reconnected with Tom Thackeray. They started dating in
June and were married in the San Diego Temple that December.
After
they got married, they moved to Springville, UT. Tom went to BYU while Heidi
worked at a health and wellness company. After they had been married a couple
of years, Tom enrolled in the Army Reserves as a way to get career training.
One month after enlisting, 9-11 happened. A few months later, Tom's unit was
called to be deployed to an undisclosed location. He would need to go, and
spouses weren't invited to join them. At first he was supposed to go to Turkey
but the Turkish government wouldn't let the troops in, so Tom ended up in
Watertown in upstate NY. Heidi having to stay behind transferred to the U and
finished her degree in Human Development and Family Studies.
When
Heidi graduated, they were tired of being apart, so Tom got permission to fly
home to UT so he and he could drive back to Watertown, NY together. All during this time, Heidi and Tom had been
trying to get pregnant. It wasn't looking good. There appeared to be
infertility issues with both of them. But while in NY Heidi found out she was
pregnant. They were so excited. They planned a trip to Utah where they would
share the news with their families. Unfortunately while in Utah, Heidi felt
something wasn't right. Tom's brother who was an OBY/GYN brought her in for an
examination only to find out there wasn't a heartbeat. They were grief stricken.
Later in NY Heidi would miscarry the baby at a military hospital.
Tom
finished his assignment in NY and they moved back to Utah and Heidi took a job
as a Kindergarten teacher at Challenger school.
They were at the point in their baby quest where they had to consider
IVF or adoption. She went in to start the process of IVF, but first she had to
take a pregnancy test. Imagine her surprise when a nurse left a message on her
voice mail delivering the good news: she was pregnant! Nine months later they
welcomed Savannah into their home. Heidi then quit teaching and started her
dream job of being a mother.
A
few years later, the Thackeray's became pregnant with their son Benjamin.
However, this time the delivery became a problem. Things were progressing
normally for the most part, except the epidural they gave Heidi didn't appear
to be working. After many hours, the doctor checked Heidi to see if she was
fully dilated. A few seconds later, Benjamin's heart flat lined.
Luckily
for Heidi and Benjamin, they were at a level 1-trauma hospital (one of only two
in the state of Utah at the time). They immediately took Heidi in, opened her
up to find out her uterus and uterine artery had ruptured. She was bleeding out
of all her internal organs. They got the baby out, and immediately intubated
him. Every 20 mins the doctor's assistant would bring back word to the family
and it wasn't looking good. Finally word came back that Heidi and the baby
would live. The doctors however told her not to expect much in the way of
mental development for the baby. He had been deprived of oxygen for too long.
But Benjamin surprised everyone. He met every milestone like any other baby and
there appears to be no problems at all from his delivery. What a miracle he is!
The
doctors told Heidi she probably shouldn't have any more children. But Heidi and
Tom felt differently. They felt there was another baby that was supposed to
join their family. So 2 years after Benjamin was born, Heidi became pregnant
with Jacob. About 30 weeks into the pregnancy, Heidi started getting pains like
she had had while delivering Benjamin. They immediately put her in the in
hospital. They gave Jacob steroids to develop his lungs and delivered him at 34
weeks. It was particularly wonderful that Tom's brother was able to deliver
Jacob.
Heidi’s
interests include a love of writing, looking at family pictures (she can spend
hours doing this), and helping people work through their problems. One day she
hopes to be a counselor to at a Junior High or High School because she also
loves working with the youth.
What
a great lady Heidi is. Her traumatic experiences have given her a wealth of
life experience to draw on. She has learned that all these trials she has faced
have be given for her growth and even though while she went through trials she
couldn't see a reason, she has learned there is always a reason. She also has
learned to consult and read carefully her patriarchal blessing. She said
everything she needed to know and went through was in there. We love Heidi and
are so grateful to have her in our ward.
No comments:
Post a Comment