Dinner Theater

My mother-in-law's birthday is approaching. It's a big one but I won't share the number in case she doesn't want my two readers to know. She and Barbara are currently on vacation and will continue to be gone during her actual birthday and this coming weekend. We realized it would be best to celebrate her birthday the weekend before if we could. A 6pm dinner at O'Charley's was planned so Jeff and I left Milledgeville Saturday evening to meet the crowd in Snellville. Nine of us were there including Jeff's sister Lindsay and her two boys Austin and Cody. Let me just say that O'Charley's has got to be THE loudest restaurant on the planet. Barbara and I had to shout across the table to have a conversation. We were in the back along with about 30 high schoolers dressed in their finest (Homecoming weekend maybe?). We quickly put in our orders before the taffeta kids could put in theirs causing an hour delay in getting our meals. About 5 minutes into eating I see my mother-in-law slowly start to stand up. She does not look good. She motions to Lindsay that she is choking and turns around while Lindsay wraps her arms around her waist and starts doing the Heimlich manuever. I motion for Jeff to hurry and help. Lindsay tried a few times and then handed her mother over to Jeff. I stood by Austin and tried to casually answer his questions about what was happening to Nana. I don't know who actually helped my mother-in-law get the food out of her throat but she was finally able to breathe. I was impressed with how quickly (and calmly) she, Lindsay, and Jeff were able to handle the situation. The boys had no idea what really happened because no drama ensued and no one outside of our party knew what was happening. This may have something to do with the extreme noise level. So, the moral of the story is, take CPR training. They teach you the Heimlich maneuver and you never know when you might need to help a family member or a stranger. I am CPR certified and I would not have been able to react as quickly and correctly as they did. My mother-in-law is a nurse so that probably helped and Lindsay is CPR certified as well. Jeff apparently had to perform the Heimlich maneuver on a stranger years back. Nothing beats actual experience. I'm hoping for a more low key birthday celebration next year.