Dear Stephen,

Today seems to be dragging on. It's been a very peaceful day for me. But I just got the sad news that Ken's friend has passed away. Ken left this morning to go visit. They were supposed to visit the funeral home and lawyer for final arrangements. I don't yet know if Ken was with Twitch when he passed or not. He just called a few minutes ago to say he'd be home as soon as he could. My heart goes out to his sisters and his friends.

When something sad like this happens, I always want to turn to you, big brother. Wonder why that is? I guess you will always be my rock, my pillar of faith and strength. Being this far away from you all has really opened my eyes to how much I depend on you. I may not be able to believe in the church like you, but I believe in you. You're the points on my compass, along with Shawn, Trent, Nina, Mom and Dad. I'm incredibly lucky to have that.

Well, I just put my first batch of bread in the oven! Nina has convinced me the Mother Earth News bread is just what I need. Hopefully, it'll turn out! It certainly has been the easiest bread I've ever attempted to make.

For lunch yesterday, Ken took me to a Chinese place for Yum Chow or something like that. You get pots of green tea, then they bring around little plates of food and you try whatever looks interesting. Kind of like buffet that they bring to you. Let me just go on the record and say it's nothing like the Chinese food we're used to. I didn't recognize one single thing. The best part of it was the dessert: mango pancakes! It was like a very thin pancake rolled around whipped cream and mango chunks. What's not to love?

For dinner, I made the easiest thing in the world, but it really was quite yummy. (If I do say so myself!) Browned chicken thighs with olive oil and garlic, then poured some red wine over it and let them simmer in that for a long time. I had some frozen leftover marinara that I'd made last week, so I threw that in the pan too and simmered some more. At some point in my life in Bloomington, Amy and I went to a restaurant downtown. Anyway, I remember having polenta with tomato sauce and Parmesan at this restaurant. So for the first time in my life, I made polenta the Italian way. And it was Ken's first time eating it! Just put the polenta on the plate, placed the chicken and sauce over it, some fresh Parm and parsley and basil. Dinner was served! Too easy.

With the leftover polenta, I'm going to attempt fried mush like Mom used to make for us. That'll be breakfast tomorrow with some eggs. Hopefully, it'll work out.

Tonight, I think it's just going to be cheeseburgers and fries. Homemade, but nothing fancy. I better get off of here - Ken will probably be home soon and I know he'll need to talk. Poor guy. Please pray for them, Stevie.

Love you,
Court