Wow, don’t I have egg on my face!

Along with my amazing family and friends, many of the other connections I have made in over four decades have left quite the impression on me. One such connection was with my Aunt Maureen’s father Steve Donnelly. It was more than twenty years ago when my relationship with Steve became more of a friendship than a secondary familial connection over a fun filled weekend cruising Long Island Sound on his “Float Boat”. I always thought I had some good one-liners and amusing sayings banked in my memory until a few hours with Steve enlightened me as to what a true library of wit looked like! Regardless, I believe it was in his retelling of an unsuccessful boat sale referral in which he felt he embarrassed that he used the idiom “I have egg on my face”. After my misadventures yesterday, I know exactly what he meant.

While the expression may have its’ origins in a situation of social embarrassment, my experience yesterday was one of the internal variety. To set the stage… As you may have picked up on in previous posts, one of the blessings in my life is the opportunity that I have to share my experience with others, particularly students through ThinkFirst. ThinkFirst is a National Injury Prevention Foundation with the mission to prevent brain, spinal cord, and other injuries through education, research, and advocacy. I had remembered Andy being engaged as a speaker with ThinkFirst so when a former Krempels’ intern reached out to see if I’d want to get involved, I jumped at the opportunity.

Zoe, the former David Krempels Brain Injury Center intern and current Occupational Therapist at Northeast Rehab, had by the time we reconnected began facilitating presentations at area schools for ThinkFirst. It’s been an amazingly rewarding thing to share my story in the hopes of helping others to avoid serious injury and led to an amazing experience for me a while back. When we visit schools, Zoe or another therapist from Northeast Rehabilitation Hospitsl leads a class where we show a video of individuals whose injuries were preventable followed by a PowerPoint with some educational information and statistics. After the presentation I share my story and we have an interactive discussion with students.

When I joined ThinkFirst’s efforts, the video had become a bit dated and the organization had decided to update the film with a new version. When offered a chance to get in front of the camera and share my story, lacking any future acting prospects, I jumped at the chance! If I remember correctly, the shoot featured 5 survivors of severe injury and our stories. I remember thinking that once I was in the video, there really wouldn’t be any benefit to my attending the presentations in person. However, in thinking of my own thought that those cautionary stories or films shown in school were fiction when I saw them coupled with the reactions of students when the lights flick on and they realize the featured stories in the film are real; only strengthens my desire to stay involved.

But now to the egg on my face… One of the individual who shares his story in the video tells how he glanced at his phone when notified of a message, ultimately causing a crash leaving him with a serious disability. At this point, I’ve probably seen his story on film upwards of 20 times and can even share the quote he leaves students with: “When you’re in the car, just drive!” Anyway, and I’m embarrassed to share this, in a thoughtless moment I pulled my phone from my pocket and glanced at the screen to see a notification to have my scrolling interrupted by the rumble of my tire on the roads’ rough shoulder. This happened two days ago and my car is still being serviced with a couple tires shredded and I can only imagine the service fees accumulating! In the grand scheme of things, I can’t be that upset as no one was hurt, although my checking account will be depleted a bit. Regardless, I thought it would be good to share my fellow cautionary film subjects’ message: “Just Drive” and to thank Steve, God rest his soul, for the perfect expression for my feelings!