Andrew and Whitney Klein: Making a Garden Out of the Ashes

GeistNursery1
Andrew and Whitney Klein at Geist Nursery. (Photos by Izzybug Photography)

Walk into the home sitting confidently on the hill in the estate known at Geist Nursery, and you enter a contrast of new and old, of tragic and inspiring, of loss and gain. So too are the lives that inhabit this building.

Meet Andrew and Whitney Klein. They live and work here, along with Whitney’s parents, Fred and Sarah Richwine who own the property and the landscape business. The home is believed to have been the Mollenkopf property back in the late 1800s and was lovingly restored by Fred after he acquired it in 1977. All of this effort was lost when it suffered a tragic electrical fire in December of 2010, burning all but one small section to the ground. The grief of losing their valuables, sentimental items and two pets wore off when they realized how blessed they were to escape the fire alive. They started to rebuild, keeping the general home structure similar to the old one. They’ve also started working with this Edmonton basement development service. Now, with the old surviving section as the entryway, the new house is fresh, beautiful and historic, all in one.

GeistNursery7Like the house, Andrew and Whitney have suffered their share of setbacks, but have rebuilt and improved. They were living the American Dream in Broad Ripple with Andrew working as an executive sushi chef at Kona Grill and Whitney working at Geist Nursery and The Indiana Reparatory Theatre. Then, in 2009, while preparing for Kona’s presence at Zoobilation, Andrew had numbness in his hands, tingles in his legs and severe back pain. One day, he suddenly had trouble keeping his balance and walking. He was told that he should go home and on the way to his car, was stopped by police, telling him that he wasn’t fit to drive. They thought he’d had too much to drink. The next morning, he couldn’t feel his feet or legs and certainly couldn’t walk. Two weeks of tests in the hospital confirmed that Andrew had Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a neurological disorder in which the myelin sheath that protects the nerves, is attacked by a person’s own antibodies.

“When I was in the hospital, the first neurologist came in and told me I’d never walk again. I stared her straight in the face and said ‘You get out of here and send me a different doctor,’” said Andrew. “Dr. Stroble came in and said, ‘I like your attitude,’ and started me on physical therapy. The beginning of therapy was just trying to get my baby toe to move. Finally, it twitched and then I tried to get the second to move.”

He stayed in the hospital another two and half months, working longer and harder than most in physical therapy until he was able to walk again. Andrew rose from being bedridden, to using a wheelchair to walking out of the hospital with a walker, in a short three months. He credits the support of his family, friends and parents, Gina and John Klein, who moved back from Florida to help with his recovery. He was “rebuilding after the fire.”

After suffering a relapse in May 2014 from the stress of then being the executive sous chef at Flemings, Andrew decided, with much coaxing from his neurologist, to leave his job. After three months of recovery, he decided to start his own catering company and No Coast Cuisine was born. They cater corporate lunches, private dinners, events and weddings and even provide wellness cooking for those with illnesses or special dietary needs. To couple that, they started hosting more weddings on the property, with beautiful, shabby chic country receptions in the barn. His most recent labor of love is renovating the 1973 Airstream trailer he acquired to make it an “onsite-catering kitchen.” They may even go so far as to one day participate in First Friday Food Trucks.

Like the fire, after grieving the loss of the life that he once knew, they all found gratitude in the fact that his form of MS was not progressive but rather “relapse and remitting,” meaning he would suffer relapses, but be able to recover from them with some effort. Also, they are in awe of the medical advances being made on this illness. For instance, Andrew takes an injection, every day, which mimics the myelin sheath, decoying the antibodies from attacking his nerves. Mostly, they give thanks for the now 4-year-old son, Levi, they were still able to give birth to, after Andrew’s MS diagnosis. This gratitude led them both to walk for the last five years in the MS Walk, held in April. That’s right, Andrew walks for this cause. “MS doesn’t define me,” Andrew said. “I define my MS.”

Whitney, who grew up in the house, and Andrew believe this was all part of the bigger plan. “Our path led us here,” said Whitney. “We moved to Colorado and moved back here. We tried to open a sushi restaurant in Broad Ripple and then moved back here. We roll with it and look for the good.”

Andrew and Whitney seem to work together as one unit, along with Whitney’s parents. Their businesses are well run because of the special complimentary talents they each posses. Fred owns the landscaping business and garden center and brings years of experience along with a quality work ethic. Whitney has a design background that lends itself to decorating the barn for weddings and reorganizing the garden center to give it some “street presence.” Her brilliant mind and hospitable nature are invaluable in all aspects of the businesses. Andrew, who taps into the 25 years of his family’s catering and restaurant experience, has the culinary skills to prepare quality meals for all occasions made from his own garden. They all live together in the house, sharing babysitting, chores and handyman duties.

It is the house, like the lives in it, that burned down to the ground and, with an abundance of hard work and love, was rebuilt to its current glory and purpose.

For more information about No Coast Cuisine Catering, visit facebook.com/nocoastcuisine or email them at nocoastcuisine@gmail.com.

For more information about Geist Nursery Garden Center and landscaping, visit geistnursery.com.

Comments 3

  1. Mish says:

    Well deserved recognition for an amazing Family!

  2. Susan Chunn says:

    Awesome Interview of two of the finest friends anyone can have. I had the privilege of meeting them both while in Indiana visiting my daughter Michelle Petterson Miller who has been diagnosed with Stage 2 Breast cancer. They aretrue friends, but I had to the experience first hand of what sort of healing and soothing food they can prepare for a certain illness.
    I recommend this couple and family for all of your needs from food preparations to wedding and landscaping ideas. I also met the parents while on a purchasing visit to their garden shop and purchased many items but especially the most beautiful beige/pink poinsettia for my mother-in-law back in Illinois. Great article Tom !

  3. Lauren Windle says:

    Wonderful story, wonderful family!!

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