Now, here’s something that left me a little gobsmacked… On the day we signed the paperwork to take possession of our villa, one of the last things that Brooke, the marketing person, gave each of us was the “pendant,” a device that dangles on a lanyard around your neck and is designed to save your life if you fall or get attacked by a bear, or whatever. It has a button on it that can be pushed in an emergency, and each and every pendant is monitored 24/7 while you’re on campus. It works like that Life Alert (c) device that you see advertised on cable TV. Well, both Carolyn and I almost went into shock when Brooke handed us our pendants! No, I thought, that is something for old people, and not for me!
There is more to this story… Upon arrival at our villa after leaving the marketing office, we discovered an emergency cord in the bathroom, in case one of us falls in the shower and his or her pendant is dangling on the doorknob, where it generally resides. Okay, I expected to see pendants in every room of the villa, and perhaps in my sock drawer, in case I collapsed while reaching for a clean pair of socks! Well, there are really only three, so my fears were somewhat overblown.
And there is even more to this story… About three months into our occupancy, I had to make a solo trip out of state, leaving Carolyn and Kiki to fend for themselves. Guess what?! Carolyn wore her pendant while I was gone! She said she felt safer wearing it while she was the only adult in the villa. So, the “dreaded” pendant may not be so loathsome, after all, and it could save lives. It has other uses, too, but that’s a subject for a future post.
