Nina hendee biography images

As she pulled out her chair and sat down, she began to tell us a story. A story of herself as a seventeen-year-old girl who was pregnant and unmarried yet who made the courageous and inconvenient decision to carry her baby full term and surrender him to adoption. She told us the story of holding him in her arms just once, only once, and telling him everything that was on her heart to say — all of her prayers, all of her hopes, and all of her dreams for his life.

Nina Hendee is a native Texan with a passion for the history of our great state.

As she handed him over to the nurse, she handed him over to God with fervent, heartfelt prayers that he would be raised by a family who feared God and loved Him with all their hearts as she did. Until the day a letter showed up in her mailbox forty-eight years later from the son she had surrendered long ago. The letter was from a man named Kyle Poulson who had gone on the long, arduous, and vulnerable journey to find his birth mother, only to discover Nina Hendee at the end as his destination.

Their reunion over the past few months has been sweet and rich and redemptive — redemptive for several reasons. He was adopted by parents who raised him as their beloved son with a strong and nurturing love for the Lord and for other people. They helped Kyle grow into a man any woman would be proud to call her son. It was like he hit the jackpot of all jackpots in moms and in families.

But three, ten years ago, on February 13, , Nina lost her son, Edd K. Hendee, in a tragic skiing accident. He left behind a grieving wife, children, parents, and two beautiful sisters.

Nina's fascination with Texas history began when she was a fourth grader at Victor Hexter Elementary School in Dallas.

And I thought Nina had lost her only son. But what I am saying is that when I watched a video this past Sunday about their story and the beauty of their reunion, my hope in a God who holds the power to redeem was renewed. I was reminded that every decision we make to honor God and choose life never goes unnoticed or forgotten.