Yesterday was the anniversary (or nearly the anniversary) of the Battle of Atlanta. To commemorate the event, a bunch of Civil War reenactors got together at a park nearby to dress up, run some ops, ride horses, fire cannons, and generally educate the public about what happened. My friend Laura Jane's significant other is a re-enactor who was participating, so we decided to go as a group and check out what they were doing.
It was hot - not bad for those of us in 21st century garb, but too warm for the re-enactors in their layers of really awesome hand-made Civil-War era garb. We all found something we were interested in: Richie was immediately engrossed in the maps and artifacts and a conversation with one re-enactor/educator while I chit-chatted with the calvary. KidM and KidV ate cereal (it was early) and milled about. Laura Jane and I were hanging out with KidM and KidV and gradually made our way over to the hospital tent, where a man was spreading his wares and preparing to educate the public. He began to tell us about the glass hypodermics of the Civil War era, and a lot about anesthesia.
As his explanation of the wares drifted toward the saws and amputation, I was less aware than I should have been that, although KidV was totally unfazed and was just actively peeking over the edges of boxes and looking under the table, KidM was not doing much, just listening.
I was standing with Mazie in front of me, and my hands on her bare shoulders. She shuddered a little bit. I bent down and whispered in her ear, "You okay?" "mm-hmm..." she replied. About five seconds later she shook hard several times and then went slack, collapsing back onto me. I caught her before she landed face-first on a card table covered with Civil War implements of surgery and glass needles.
I picked her up and started carrying her to a quiet place - the sidewalk, and Laura Jane took Vivian to go get Richie. She shook only for a few brief seconds, and then totally limp and gray. Once she was horizontal she regained consciousness gradually. We laid her out on the sidewalk and got some food. LJ and I started discussing whether we thought it was a seizure. We decided it was a vasovagal syncopal event.
I felt terrible as I realized that I had been oblivious to the fact that Mazie had been stressed about the things she was seeing. She didn't tell me, but also it didn't occur to me at all that she would be affected.
denoument...I don't know...
The title of this post is a bit by Garrison Keillor that you should really check out if you have the time. In it, he says what I am about to say far more eloquently and with much more wry humor.
