Cove

  There was a place in the mountains of North Carolina that I had always wanted to see.  The Cove.  It was right outside of Asheville, and very close to a place where I spent most of my summers--Ridgecrest Baptist Conference Center.  The Cove was envisioned by Billy Graham to be a place to train and uplift people.  I had heard that it was beautiful up there, so I jumped at the chance to go for an overnight stay with my church group of Seniors.  They had motel rooms on the property in the midst of the mountains.  There were signs around the property to beware of bears.  It was right before Christmas, and the area was beautifully decorated.

 We checked in and had some time to relax before dinner.  We were there to see a concert by a Christian group called Selah. They didn't have TVs in the rooms, but they had free WIFI, so I could keep up with things on my phone.  I went over to the conference building and looked at the Billy Graham memorabilia.  I also went into the gift shop but didn't buy anything.  The line waiting to get into the dining hall was long.  We weren't the only church group for the concert.  They had a roaring fire in the fireplace which made the waiting area pretty warm.  I had not brought my water bottle along, because I didn't think I needed it.

 I was talking to some friends about my record collection, when I felt faint.  All of the benches had other people sitting on them, so I tried to sit on a trashcan.  I collapsed on my knees next to the can and outside the restrooms.  The next thing I knew, there was a woman standing over me along with some from my group.  I didn't know this woman, but it turned out that she was from Hickory, NC and was an EMT.  She was with her church group and had been summoned out of the restroom by a friend of hers.  She was very nice and knew what to do.  A nurse was called from The Cove, and the two of them worked on me to bring me back from fainting.  They eventually got me to sit in a chair and then to stand.  They asked me when the last time was I had eaten anything.  I said around 4pm and a pack of crackers.  The Cove called 911, and two EMTs showed up.  They took me to a corner of the room away from everyone else.  My BP was normal.  I explained that I had these events sometimes, when I get overheated.  They wanted to take me to the hospital, but I declined.  I didn't know how I would get back to The Cove.

 They gave some water to me, and I felt strong enough to get something to eat in the dining room, but I didn't have much appetite.  Some friends convinced me that I should go back to my room and skip the concert.  They tried to get a staff member from The Cove to escort me back to my room which was about 1/4 mile away.  There was a shuttle bus that I could ride, but no one from The Cove would accept to take me.  A friend from my group volunteered instead.  He and I rode the shuttle back and made sure I got to my room okay.  I collapsed in the bed and slept.  There was a pillow on the bed that was very comfortable and made it easy for me to sleep.

 The next morning, I felt so much better.  I walked over in the cool air to get breakfast.  My appetite was back.  I asked a couple of staff people who made the pillow.  No one knew.  In my younger days, I would have stolen it but not now.  After we checked out, we went to a chapel on the grounds.  I told one of the volunteers about the time in 1963, when Billy Graham had invited my parents and me for dinner at his home in Montreat, and my father declining because of leading a conference at Ridgecrest.  And then, my father introducing me to Billy Graham the next summer at the Southern Baptist Convention in Atlantic City, NJ by saying that this introduction got him "out of the doghouse".  They laughed.  I was looking up at a giant.  The Cove's volunteer thought that was a neat story.  

 We headed back to Columbia on our tour bus.   Two friends invited me to lunch at a restaurant in Columbia, and I ate some salty food.  I felt so much better.  I was talking to a neighbor after getting back home.  He suggested I try Liquid IV for dehydration.  It really works.  Thanks, Jim.