A wedding invitation to be opened under crystal chandeliers … It was the beginning of my day at the Kansas City Royals baseball game. I’d just rolled into town for some work and was excited to see the Indians. My coach from high school was walking with me, and before the game she told me about the invite. She said she’d picked up the biggest donation her alma mater had ever received, and would be opening it under the crystal chandeliers. It seemed like a cool tradition, and I was nervous. I was also nervous that I wasn’t prepared for the stress of going from a Kansas City high school freshman to getting a corporate vice president’s job in a day. I got a ticket for $25 and three others, and shortly after arriving I felt really comfortable. My coach told me to go get a bag from a fellow associate’s office and bring it to the game so we could take it home and close the big gift. They were really sweet; we’d done other gifts for each other before, but never had someone so engrossed in the action. There was an ovation at first when we got to the stadium, and another when we sat in a box and saw the decorations and added-on pieces of the gift. The whole experience was pretty incredible and unexpected, like something you might read about in a book. I even had dinner afterward, and was walking out of the stadium when my friend asked me if I had actually made a big donation. I told her that yes, I had.
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