The ad read, “Help wanted with chores around the house, heavy lifting and going for walks.”
It was the late 1990s, and Obie Pressman needed the work, even if the ad wasn’t especially illuminating.
“It struck me as a little odd," he said. "I knew I wasn’t getting the whole story.”
Obie was in a vulnerable place at that time, after a series of setbacks. His parents had recently gone bankrupt and lost their house. His father then left his mother for another woman, and soon after, Obie’s own girlfriend broke it off with him.
So he was ready for something new when he answered the ad, and met Mary.
Mary was in heart failure. She was on a waiting list for a heart transplant, and in the meantime she needed help staying active and managing day-to-day activities. Obie took the job.
Obie Pressman described what happened next before a live audience at Sound Effect’s storytelling eventin June 2019, in partnership with Fresh Ground Stories. Listen to the full story above.
