Dear Eli,

The other night, Daddy and I got home from our date with the Hathcocks. Your little sisters were still awake and wouldn’t go to sleep without a story. Well, I definitely had a story to tell. This is what I told them:

Once upon a time (all good stories start like this), a mommy and daddy went out to dinner with friends. They enjoyed good food and good company. When the waiter brought the receipts and credit cards back, they discovered that their tickets had been charged to each other’s cards. They figured out who owed what and had a good laugh.

Next, they went to have frozen custard for dessert. The daddy and friends did a bathroom break while there, but the mommy decided to wait until she got home. After dessert, the mommy and daddy said goodbye to their friends and they headed home in their respective cars.

As the mommy and daddy were driving around the mountain to get home to their children, they heard a loud noise that got louder and they thought it was the engine of a passing truck. Well, the truck passed, but the noise did not. The daddy said to the mommy, I think it’s us. He pulled over to the side of the interstate while she turned on the hazard lights. They managed to get safely to the side and discovered that the rear driver’s tire had blown out.

The mommy was sure that she had checked the tires recently, since they had been replacing tires on the family vehicles,  so she couldn’t understand why the tire would blow up. She called AAA and their friends for help. Their friends got there first (AAA didn’t have any tow trucks in the highly populated area). While one of their friends attempted to remove the wheel, the mommy and her friend walked down the overpass and under, across to the other side to find a restroom.

While there, it was discovered that they had the lug nuts. So the daddy and his friend, who, with a lot of strength, stubbornness, and tools, had finally managed to remove the shredded wheel, but couldn’t put on the spare. The women returned and the lug nuts were put on and they all finally went home. As it turned out, the tire was not old and was covered under warranty. And they all lived happily ever after…or at least until the next crisis.

Oh, and your little sisters were surprised to learn that this story is real.

I know, you actually wanted to hear about the comic con. We went, had a great time, and said “Hi” to Brandon Sanderson for you.

I missed you being there and I missed having you hanging out under my cutting table in the sewing room while I worked on costumes. Some of us were feeling rather sad about your absence last week, so, after a good cry, we got milkshakes and visited your grave. We are finalizing the headstone and I hope to have it in place by the end of the year. We’ll see.