Act of Kindness #7 - Over The Edge

I usually listen to The Bert Show, a local morning show, on my way to work. They started talking about a fundraising event that they had signed Bert up for to try to help him get over his fear of heights. The event was called 'Over the Edge'. Basically, if you raise $1,000 or more, you got the opportunity to rappel off of the 20-story Buckhead Towers building in Atlanta on April 20th. As soon as I heard this, it immediately peaked my interest. I've always wanted to experience rappeling and what better way to do that, plus be able to raise money for an awesome cause!

I called my husband and told him about it. His response...I was nuts. He did make me an agreement if I signed up for it though, he would stand at the bottom and take pictures haha. I can't even get the poor guy to do the swings with me at Six Flags! I have to admit, I was a little apprehensive only because I didn't know what to expect. Heights have never bothered me, but it was the thought of the initial step off the side of the building that I wasn't too sure about.

So after talking to Jeff, I went online and signed up for it. Then I sent out an email to my company, some of our subcontrators and my family and friends. I have to say, I have some pretty awesome family and friends, and my company is so good to us! Within 24 hours I had already raised $1,300! Not too long after, I received an email from the lady that organizes the event so that I could pick my time slot. I went ahead and chose 2 p.m.

By the time April 20th came around, I had raised a total of $2,585! At this point there was no backing out, but not that I would have because I was really excited about it. Jeff and I headed downtown a little earlier than needed because we weren't sure how interstate traffic would be, but we were really concerned about the crowd at the event since it had been publicized on the radio station so much. We ended up getting there about 12:30 and to my surprise, it wasn't crowded at all. I went in and signed in and they immediately sent me upstairs to be harnessed up. After being strapped in to the most uncomfortable contraption ever, they sent me to the rooftop where a couple others were waiting to "practice". Pretty much they have you go from the rooftop and down 2 stories to a patio area below...no big deal. So as I am watching the others before me go down, I start to feel a little better about it. Most of these people have never done it before and they all looked totally relaxed about it. My turn came and the inital step off was nothing, totally easy! I thought we would do the practice, then have to go back up, wait in line again and then do the whole 20-stories. Nope...2-story practice and off you went from there to rappel the remainder of the building! It went a lot quicker than I thought and 20-stories up did not make me nervous AT ALL! About halfway through though I was just ready to get it over with. You have to sit yourself up the whole time in order to lower yourself down and my back was KILLING ME! The first 10 stories probably took 2-3 minutes and the last 10 went in about 30 seconds haha. My jump time was 2 p.m. but I was done and out of there by about 1:30. Jeff did as promised and was waiting at the bottom taking pictures...such a supporter :)

 

On the way walking out, we walked past Bert from The Bert Show. His jump time was at 3 p.m., so he was watching how all the other jumps were going and asking the jumpers questions. We probably stood there and talked to him one-on-one for a good 10 minutes. He was just one of the nicest guys ever! Never acted rushed or like he didn't want to be bothered. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this experience and hope to get a chance to do it again next year if they have it. A big thank you to my company, our wonderful subcontractors and to my family and friends for their support. You all are awesome!