One Christmas morning, Dennis, Nancy, and their young son, Eric, were traveling south from San Francisco to their home in Los Angeles. They had spent Christmas Eve with relatives in the Bay Area, but both parents had to work the next day, thus, it was necessary to travel on Christmas. About noon, Dennis and Nancy decided they were hungry so they stopped at a local diner for lunch. Naturally, because it was Christmas, the restaurant was nearly empty and Eric, their young son, was the only child in the restaurant.

As they entered the diner, Eric could be heard screaming with great glee, “Hithere,” the two-word expression that he always thought was one. The little boy pounded his hands on the metal chair. He was excited and he wiggled and giggled with great joy. Then Nancy, his mother, saw t…