Wedding Wednesday: A Nigerian Dance Fest

Yesterday Kyle and I were running a few errands, one of which involved a trip to the bank. I got out of the car and was waiting in line to approach the ATM and a little, elderly lady was also waiting. She got out of her car just before I did but she had started to talk to another person passing by. I had no intention of cutting her in line so I kept glancing at her so that when it was her turn, I could make it clear that she could go ahead. She stopped talking and started to make her way up to the ATM. Before I could even tell her to go ahead I noticed she was wavering and about to lose her balance. The poor lady, in what felt like slow motion, started to slowly stumble sideways. I knew this wasn’t going to end well. What made the situation worse is that she was about to approach a set to two stairs heading downward. As she was clearly about to plummet down the stairs face first, I said, “Be Careful!” Clearly the most unintelligent thing to say as she had no control over her mannerisms and clearly she probably didn’t have any intention of falling on her face at the bank. Well, she did, fall on her face that is. I was too far to catch her or even help, all I could do was watch in horror. I went running over, the poor lady sprawled out, her arm in the most awkward position, and her face flat against the concrete. I wasn’t sure exactly what to do or if she had been knocked out, so I knelt down by her face and said “Are you okay?” Again, clearly a stupid question. Then I heard a scream from behind me, “DON’T MOVE HER, SHE MIGHT HAVE BROKEN HER NECK!” While I had no intention of moving her and I am pretty positive she had no intention of moving, I thought this person may not be helping the lady’s mental state. She moved her head a bit and blood started pouring out of her mouth. Before I had time to throw up, Kyle came running over to which another passerby yelled, “He’s a doctor!!” We live in a small town. While he is a doctor, he is a chiropractor and not a trauma surgeon, and considering we had just about nothing on us that could help her he was about as useless as I was. I did learn one thing from my first aid class and that was to designate someone to call 911. So I looked at the guy who was convinced her neck was broken and said, “You, call 911.” He did, my job was complete. The ambulance came and hauled her off, she was bleeding and clearly distraught but I think overall just fine. I think she busted her lip but at least she didn’t crack her head open. It was truly amazing to see how many people stepped in to help, one lady brought a towel out of her car to place the lady’s head on and she even picked up the towel that was soaked in blood after the lady had been taken away and put it back in her car, the same lady grabbed one tiny napkin out of her purse and without even thinking of the implications of germs or blood-borne illnesses, gently wiped some of the blood from her face. The man that called the police stayed the whole time until she was taken away. The lady, that shouted about Kyle being a doctor, called the lady’s husband who made it just in time but luckily didn’t have to see her face down on the pavement. I’ve been thinking about her all day and I hope she is okay. It turns out that the conversation she was having while waiting in line while I was trying to make eye contact with her, was about the fact that she had been having issues with her left leg. It was dragging and her doctor wouldn’t refer her to physical therapy or do anything for her. That broke my heart as clearly she was in no position to be walking on her own. Anyway, there is no real point to this little story, I just thought I’d share.

Moving on to happier subjects… weddings! I received this wedding from Evangeline of Evangeline Lane Photography. I always love looking at her work due to her ability to capture images in such a real way. I almost feel as if I was there when I look at the images. When she sent this one over, I instantly fell in love with the vibrant images and the excitement that emanated from the photos. Here’s what she had to say about this couple:

Chappella and Chijioke  were married at the carriage house in forest park in Springfield, MA.  I believe they met at a camping trip in Canada a few years back.  His family is originally from Nigeria so they wanted to incorporate some traditional Nigerian wedding ceremonies.  Half way through the reception they changed into traditional garb and did a money dance (where guests dance around and throw money at you for good luck).  Both of his parents wore traditional garb the whole night.  Chappella’s sorority sisters surprised her with a sorority song, which they sang holding hands with her in the middle.  That was super cute!  Also, I think it’s important to mention that I’ve never seen guests have such a good time at a wedding.  Everyone was dancing their asses off the entire night, happy as ever!!  They treated them like celebrities…I’ve never seen so many people with cameras and cell phone cameras.  It often looked like that famous photo of Britney Spears and Kevin Federline sitting on the beach with the hundreds of paparazzi in front of them!

What sort of crazy things have happened to you this week?