The Plum: Andrea (my friend)
Submitted by: Kristina
Midwest, USA
Andrea is a gritty survivor. She shares meat from the moose she hunted in Manitoba, delivers fresh eggs and honey to the doorsteps of her friends and neighbors, and goes for a run every day on a re-built knee. A former competitive fighter herself, she now coaches amateur and professional boxers in USA Boxing tournaments around the country.
Andrea spent a decade struggling to save her daughter, Shyloh, from the clutches of mental health and addiction issues. When Shyloh died, Andrea channeled her grief and rage into a beautiful memoir. At readings and promotional events for her book I talked to other women who have also lost children to addiction, many of whom said that without Andrea’s book to show them a path through their grief, they wouldn't have thought it possible to survive such heartbreak. “Fort Unicorn and the Duchess of Nothing” is her beautiful story of hurt and hope.