Please Skip to the Pictures

The following is a story of heroism unparalleled on every level. 

It was a Taco Tuesday unlike any other. 

We put the baby in the car, and drove the 400 meters to Rubio's for our fish tacos. Beckett and I sat in the car while Elliott was inside. Since Rubio's is incredibly slow, I looked for my phone to ease the bordom I knew would quickly ensue while waiting. Except... I couldn't find my phone. I distinctly remembering walking outside with it in one hand and the baby in the other. I put it on top of my trunk while I put the baby in his carse--oh *expletive.* I knew running inside to tell Elliott the phone had fallen off of the back of the car somewhere between our house, QT and Rubio's was pointless. I spent the time waiting thinking about how crappy it was going to be to re-learn T9 and how to tell directions without the help of Google.maps at my fingertips. I'd have to get glasses in order to focus on my new screen that would be the size of a matchbook. There was no way I could be phoneless but we certainly weren't going to buy another fancy shmancy phone without a 2-year contract. Great. At least there's only four months until we get a new plan.Ten minutes later--stupid Rubio's--Elliott emerged with our tacos. We drove back to our driveway. No sign. Elliott ran to the mailbox where we stopped just before leaving. No sign. We drove down the main neighborhood road we took to QT. No sign. We drove BACK into the QT lot. No sign. We drove down busy-four-lane-wide-plus-a-median Power Rd.  No sign. We got in the left-hand turn lane to head back to Rubio's. There was something in the middle of the intersection. A pit was forming in my stomach. We wondered if the little shards of glass and black plastic were my phone. It was like ID'ing a body at the morgue. We had reached the end of the road. We'd soon be back to Rubio's and that would be that. Turing left onto Ray Rd., Elliott shouted, ''I SEE IT.'' (It was a shout of calm in this time of crisis so I'm leaving off the exclamation mark). I didn't believe him until he was handing me my phone in three pieces. Sure enough, there it was. Battery in, backing... well... backing didn't quite make it through ok but good enough, phone on. It turned on! Next test, make a call. It connected to Elliott's phone without a problem. Even the camera, which was never that good in the first place, survived. My little phone now has it's battle wounds which it proudly displays in the form of bandages of black electrical tape holding the back on. The thought that kept crossing my mind was WHY, after making it through a trip to QT and a drive down a major road it decided to slide off 200 feet short of our final destination. Oh well, it's called a ''smart phone'' so perhaps it knows how to be conniving.