[DonDavis]

As some of you know, I've been kind of away from my car project for awhile. I've gotten various emails and PMs but have not answered them. I'm just now to the point where I want to tell you what's been going on.

On Nov 2, my wife called me to say she her sister's car was at her home but she was not answering the phone. Carol (my wife's sister) had struggled with depression for many years. She lost her battle and took her life.

Carol was probably the most intelligent person I've ever known. I don't say that lightly. She was very artistic and caring. She would make her greeting cards by hand and gifts always had her personal touch. My kids loved her and she was great with them. However, she would drop the occasional eff-bomb or begin swearing like a sailor and that was Carol. Just being herself, like it or not. She was real.
She was always reading something deep or studying texts. Carol was an artist. I miss her tremendously.

Carol lived at home with her parents just about a mile from us. Her parents were gone to Puerto Vallarta for her dad's 60th birthday. Lisa (my wife) had called Carol for a few days but had not heard back. It was not unusual for a number of days to go by before Carol would call or come over. She had her good days and bad days. Lisa went over on the 2nd to see what was up. She called me to ask what the garage code was. I told her and asked why. "Carol's car is home and I can see the garage lights are on." I told her to leave and I'll meet her back over there later.

I made it a point to get there before she did and when I walked up to the garage, I froze. I knew.
Panicking, I knew I had to get in before my wife got back. I found an open window in the back of the house.
Carol was in the garage. It had been 6 days.

The authorities came in minutes and about 20 minutes later, my wife got back. That was tough. I will say this for the City of Mesa, there was a grief counselor on the scene within 30 minutes of my call to 911. I'm very grateful for that. Heck, I can't get to the mall in 30 minutes.

We then went home to tell my 17 yr old daughter, my 6 yr old son as well as call my in-laws in Mexico. Amazingly, when their room rang, they answered. They came home the next day and stayed at my house for the next 2 weeks. The garage needed a lot of work.

As you can imagine, Thanksgiving was very hard so for Christmas my mother-in-law and wife decided we're going to Disney. We're driving over on Friday and staying at the Holiday Inn across the street.

Just when I was getting my feet back under me, my cousin in Tennessee called me on Dec 5th to tell me my uncle fell approx 25-30 feet at work and died. He was a great man, loving husband and wonderful father of 3 girls. Things were still too raw around here so I had to miss the funeral for Tom. He was 56.

I'm really ready to have my car back on the road and go for those late night drives out in the desert.