An angel in her book
Yesterday morning, my friend and I were having breakfast at Mokas Cafe on McLean. My friend choked and could not get her breath. In a panic, I yelled to the cafe workers for help and immediately a gentleman who was eating there came over very calmly and did the Heimlich maneuver on her.
After the third time my friend was able to breathe. It all happened so fast. You never know how you are going to react in a situation like this but he may have saved her life. This man was a Good Samaritan to say the least — an Angel in my book.
My friend was able to calm down and sit down and realize what had just happened. I think — I hope — we thanked the man but we didn’t have any conversation with him. Everyone just went back to business as usual. Reflecting on it now, I wish we would have gotten his name, talked to him a bit or at least hugged him or something.
Anyway, I’m hoping maybe somewhere in your news you could mention that there are wonderful people out there in the right place and the right time to help a stranger in distress. I’d like to say thank you again to this gentleman and let him know what a wonderful thing he did.
– Julie Hall
Ted topper
Re: Ted Blankenship’s column in our March 2024 issue (“The travels and travails of lost luggage”):
I read your article in The Active Age paper as it arrived today with great anticipation of a sure-fire suggestion for how to deal with being the victim of lost luggage.
While I didn’t find the answer in your article, I am compelled to share our story.
My wife and I planned a vacation to Italy and Greece for our 40th wedding anniversary in 2023. We checked two bags and that was the last we saw of them for a while. After spending eight days in the same clothes, we aborted our 15-day vacation and flew back to Wichita. Twenty-six days later one of the bags came home. Then five months to the day it went missing, bag number two came home.
Never give up hope. Just prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
-Tom & Vicki Byrne
