12/19/2019
Here’s Walter and Elio during warmer times because Wally’s had a rough couple of days. We haven’t talked much about where Wally comes from, but that’s pretty crucial to today’s story, so here goes nothing: Wally belonged to Amanda’s mom Cathy, and she loved him very much. This was before he had a proper name. Wally and Cathy drove to work together everyday, logging thousands of miles on I-93. When Amanda was in high school, Cathy was diagnosed with breast cancer. Wally drove her to most of her appointments & let her cry with him when she couldn’t be as strong as she wanted to be. When Amanda was 21, Cathy died and Amanda inherited Wally. Cathy’s one of the reasons but that’s for a different post. Over the weekend, we started experiencing what we later recognized as signs. On Saturday night, we were watching a movie when one of Amanda’s radios turned on by itself. The next day, we pulled Wally into his garage and it smelled strongly of cut flowers. We checked outside and the smell was only concentrated inside the garage. Later that night, we noticed a photo of Cathy had been moved without explanation. These things meant nothing until Monday night when Amanda was driving home from work and three check brake lights came on. Amanda called Elio and he drove her & Wally home. Maybe we had brakes, maybe we didn’t! The next morning, in the snow, we drove to our heroes at Smooth Automotive and they fit us in for a last minute appointment. Long story semi-short: Wally needed a new alternator & battery. He had just enough energy to make it to Smooth before his battery died in their parking lot. We got him there just in the nick of time. Amanda’s going to see her family in New Hampshire for Christmas, can you imagine breaking down on Christmas Eve on the side of the highway? Wally’s a tough whip, but it always helps to have friends in high places, too. Don’t worry, Wally’s all fixed now & back to being
