Prologue through Chapter 5 Summary and Analysis

Prologue - Angels at Arbys

The book opened with this prologue, in which the Burpo family is traveling to visit their nephew, Bennet, who was two months old. It was the weekend of the Fourth of July. Their last family trip had been a true disaster. One of their children had almost died during the trip they took in March.

Preparing for the trip was nerve-wracking as the desire to remain safe at home warred with the desire to see the precious new baby. The traveling won out, and the family decided to do the bulk of their traveling at night so the children would sleep most of the way. As they traveled through North Platte, they remembered how they spent a traumatic 15 days there, praying for Colton's survival. When they asked the boy if he remembered...