Meet the Henderson family. As is common in families of multiple children, the Hendersons find themselves very busy with their oldest son Tres attending Clemson University, daughter Alana Kate participating in sports and school activities, and younger kids Millie Ann and Knox growing rapidly and exploring the world around them. Keeping everyone on schedule, happy, and healthy are John and Brooke. John serves as Division Manager for Satterfield Construction Inc. and owns H&A Development. Brooke, an Occupational Therapist, works part-time when needed in the Jefferson County Hospital and at Doctors Hospital. With all the things that pull their family in different directions, they work hard to prioritize spending time together.
“As a family, the kids and I really enjoy the beach and we try to go several times a year and also take a mountain trip with John since he enjoys the mountains more than the beach,” shares Brooke. “We love the pool, the splash pad… anything to do with water and playing outside.” The family also enjoys attending GreenJackets games, riding on the golf cart each day, and protecting their Sunday afternoons as time to relax together and prep for the busy week ahead.
As the holiday season approaches, John and Brooke reflect on the things and people for whom they are most thankful. “We are thankful that we have family who live near us,” says Brooke. “John’s parents are about 20-25 minutes away and my parents and both sisters live within five miles of us. With two small kids, having family close by is wonderful because it really does take a village to raise children.”
They are also thankful for having a healthy family. Since 2007, John has raced as part of the late model dirt track circuit (Johnhendersonracing.com). In August of 2020, John flipped his car while racing and what he thought was a minor injury quickly turned into something much bigger. Just a week after celebrating their youngest daughter’s first birthday on September 28th, John found himself in ICU for five days following emergency brain surgery. “John had a midline shift, which most people don't survive,” shares Brooke. “He had two centimeters thickness of a brain bleed on the right side, but he was living with it telling himself that he had whiplash or a concussion. He was still walking, talking, driving, racing… still working but with a headache. He had very minor symptoms for the severity of injury. We had a CT scan done just to check things out which sent him into emergency brain surgery. We’re all healthy now though and we’re thankful for that.” Although the injury sidelined John for a while, he is grateful to be back in the driver’s seat traveling all over the eastern U.S. for races.
As they reflect on life’s blessings, John and Brooke also acknowledge the importance of blessing others. “My brother is a pastor, and he is part of a ministry called BRICK,” explains John. “They choose five to seven different projects a year to help the underprivileged with things like putting a roof on a house or building a handicap ramp for an elderly person and they do all the projects in about a week’s time. It’s like a camp with worship each night, and the older kids get to participate while I help with coordination of equipment and whatever they need on the work sites.”
This holiday season, let the Hendersons inspire us to not only be thankful for all the blessings in life, but strive to make spending time with family and serving others a priority in the midst of busy schedules.