HEART OF THE MATTER

No, it wasn't a video shoot for Chris DeBurgh?s The Lady in Red (an awesome prom song in 1986), it was the 2011 Go Red For Women luncheon on Friday at the Hilton Anatole Grand Ballroom. We snapped Dowdle Real Estate prez Lynn Dowdle, Integrated DesignGroup   executive director of business development  Lea Yaest, Go For Red event chairwoman/Arledge Partners Real Estate Group prez Susan Arledge and Dallas Regional Chamber economic development director Nancy Davis. Lynn tells us her new company's moving full-speed ahead focusing on land, hotels, and restaurants. Now that the market is turning, she says she's seeing several deals go to the title company.

We caught up with another lady in red, Brenda Jarratt,  VP of biz development for James R. Thompson with Jim Thompson (owner of the firm) and his wife, Donna Beth Thompson (seated), his son and PM Ryan Thompson, and PM Todd Grogan. Brenda tells us Go Red for Women is the AHA's national campaign to increase awareness of heart disease (the leading cause of death for women) and to inspire women to make the choice to take charge of their heart health. Its fundraising efforts support the educational programs that the AHA provides and the research it funds to reduce the effects of heart disease in women.

Brenda came close to being a statistic before getting a pacemaker in August 2008. Cruising through life in good shape, eating right and feeling healthy, she first noticed something wrong in December 2006 when she lost consciousness in the shower. She had a concussion but was told it was a simple fainting spell. Fast forward to August 2008 (after passing out several more times), she was eventually diagnosed with an intermittent heart block causing a bradycardia(too slow heart beat) and given a pacemaker the next day. The diagnosis may have saved her life, she says, making the AHA fundraising efforts near and dear to her heart. The AHA funded the research for developing pacemakers, so it's because of the AHA that she's alive today, she tells us.

Brenda says the pacemaker has changed her life making her more conscious about living in the moment each day and feeling good again. She's still active (as evidenced by the cycling pic with hubby Brett in May 2010 at the Dr Pepper bottling plant in Dublin...Texas, not Ireland). Brenda says JRT finished the Ericsson project earlier this year and is working on preconstruction for PepsiCo. Work is going strong for TM Advertising, Golden Living? s HQ relocation, and Frost Bank, among others.