That was a fun evening
Last night was interesting.
We had a donor appreciation event at a pretty fancy house last night. If you are in the nonprofit world, you get to do these from time to time. You go to someone's house for a cocktail party, make small talk, do lots of thanking, and go home. We're at this house last night that has a an indoor water feature. It's pretty much a show stopper, an incredible talking piece.
Invariably, someone will step in this thing. Last year, someone stepped in it and laughed it off. He actually put both legs in there and kept talking and drinking wine. The home owners actually have commemorative towels made for when someone gets wet.
Well last night, it was not funny. I had spoken earlier in the evening with an older lady. She was quirky and fun. We seemed to hit it off. She was humming the song that the pianist was playing, "The Way You Look Tonight." We spoke about the greatness of Turner Classic Movies. She said those movies were from her era and was surprised I liked them. Anyway...
Later in the evening, there are ripples in the water. She had stepped in water feature and wrenched her shoulder a tad. My boss asked that I keep an eye on her as she recovered. I think she got a little faint from the shock of it all. Oh yeah, she's 87.
So, after 15ish minutes, she's feeling better and wants to head on home. One of her friends had one arm, and I had the bad arm. We got her to the valet area and at her car. She looked like she was in a little bit of pain and started to get shorter. And a little shorter.
I wrapped my arms around her and down she went. I was able to slowly guide her to the ground and cradled her. We straightened out her legs and arms. We kinda looked like Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen towards the end of 'Red Dawn' after the Cuban shot them. Hey, left field.
Now, the valet guys were all standing there with their thumbs up their butts. How can none of you have any training in this area? You deal with old people at every single event in town. So while I've got my hands full of old lady, I have to direct someone to call 911. And then ask someone to turn off her car and take the key out. Then go inside and get someone that's a doctor.
So she's starts to snore! Good sign I guess. She doesn't respond to her name being called. Then she stops snoring. I thought, "Good god, she's gonna die in my arms." She's friggin 87 and probably broke her shoulder and now she's laying on the ground in my arms. Great.
Too many words..can't focus. You could see her breathing and she finally responded. The EMTs checked her out and she started to make sense again. I drove her home in her car and got her inside her house. Several people were going to check in on her throughout the night. I hope she'll be ok, but my gut is telling me this could be bad. She's did admit at one point that she takes high blood pressure medicine. She said, "All old people take high blood pressure!!!" I am hoping that it was just shock and embarrassment that caused problems and got her heart rate up, and she'll live many more years.
The whole thing really shook me. It was a really long drive home. If I get an update on her, I'll ETA it.
ETA: Just heard she's doing ok today. Sore, but doing fine.
ETA part two: She broke her shoulder.
We had a donor appreciation event at a pretty fancy house last night. If you are in the nonprofit world, you get to do these from time to time. You go to someone's house for a cocktail party, make small talk, do lots of thanking, and go home. We're at this house last night that has a an indoor water feature. It's pretty much a show stopper, an incredible talking piece.
Invariably, someone will step in this thing. Last year, someone stepped in it and laughed it off. He actually put both legs in there and kept talking and drinking wine. The home owners actually have commemorative towels made for when someone gets wet.
Well last night, it was not funny. I had spoken earlier in the evening with an older lady. She was quirky and fun. We seemed to hit it off. She was humming the song that the pianist was playing, "The Way You Look Tonight." We spoke about the greatness of Turner Classic Movies. She said those movies were from her era and was surprised I liked them. Anyway...
Later in the evening, there are ripples in the water. She had stepped in water feature and wrenched her shoulder a tad. My boss asked that I keep an eye on her as she recovered. I think she got a little faint from the shock of it all. Oh yeah, she's 87.
So, after 15ish minutes, she's feeling better and wants to head on home. One of her friends had one arm, and I had the bad arm. We got her to the valet area and at her car. She looked like she was in a little bit of pain and started to get shorter. And a little shorter.
I wrapped my arms around her and down she went. I was able to slowly guide her to the ground and cradled her. We straightened out her legs and arms. We kinda looked like Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen towards the end of 'Red Dawn' after the Cuban shot them. Hey, left field.
Now, the valet guys were all standing there with their thumbs up their butts. How can none of you have any training in this area? You deal with old people at every single event in town. So while I've got my hands full of old lady, I have to direct someone to call 911. And then ask someone to turn off her car and take the key out. Then go inside and get someone that's a doctor.
So she's starts to snore! Good sign I guess. She doesn't respond to her name being called. Then she stops snoring. I thought, "Good god, she's gonna die in my arms." She's friggin 87 and probably broke her shoulder and now she's laying on the ground in my arms. Great.
Too many words..can't focus. You could see her breathing and she finally responded. The EMTs checked her out and she started to make sense again. I drove her home in her car and got her inside her house. Several people were going to check in on her throughout the night. I hope she'll be ok, but my gut is telling me this could be bad. She's did admit at one point that she takes high blood pressure medicine. She said, "All old people take high blood pressure!!!" I am hoping that it was just shock and embarrassment that caused problems and got her heart rate up, and she'll live many more years.
The whole thing really shook me. It was a really long drive home. If I get an update on her, I'll ETA it.
ETA: Just heard she's doing ok today. Sore, but doing fine.
ETA part two: She broke her shoulder.