Eli's Coming

Eli’s Coming is a semi-autobiographical account of a serial entrepreneur. It is written by Tony Fascenda who has founded three high-tech companies in an ongoing career. An average student until the 5th grade, he's 'awakened' by a math teacher who realizes the genius underneath the veil of a bored student that ultimately leads him on his path of entrepreneuring. It's an amazing tale of innovation, discovery and hard work. With a wife who's been with him all the way, their relationship has seen it all. One minute they're up, the next they're down. He keeps reaching for the brass ring but she just wants an even keel- a simple life. It’s a story of relationships and how two people deal with the stresses of life: both the successes and disappointments. He’s an unabashed risk taker while she wants a simple, stress-free life. She worries constantly about money while her entrepreneur-husband spends freely knowing the rewards are “just around the corner.” They’ve built a comfortable life for themselves and their daughter. They’re certainly middle class but as the housing crisis unfolds and expands into a banking crisis, an automotive crisis and a general economic crisis, he realizes that he’s just one paycheck away from being like most everyone else. Everything he’s worked so hard for could go up in smoke in a heartbeat. His company is struggling but has great technology. It’s just a matter of time, he feels, before the success he’s worked so hard for, will happen. Then one day, he wins the big one. His future life passes before him. He thinks about all the things he’s ever wanted and all the places he’s wanted to visit. It’s all been handed to him on a silver platter. The more he thinks about it, however, he realizes he’s only the temporary custodian of all this cash that he’s won. He decides to keep the lottery winnings secret from his wife until he figures out just what he’s going to do. He’s a family man, first and foremost. He loves his brother and sister and their families and his mother has been his rock. He’s been the rock star of the family that everyone looks up to. Well, now he’s instantly gone from middle-class to super-rich simply by buying a $5 lottery ticket. He knows that if anyone finds out, it will alter his or her view of him in ways he doesn’t want to contemplate. So he decides to keep his lottery winnings a secret and at the same time, find a way to help finance his struggling company. First there is family and a few close friends that he wants to take care of but do it in a way they’ll never see coming. He enlists his wife, daughter and mother in “Eli’s Coming,” an outrageous and hilarious plan that only he could conceive. Involving mysterious packages that his nieces and nephew receive, his sister and brother-in-law are completely up-ended when a mysterious box is delivered to their house with a note from a stranger named Eli who is coming to meet them on Saturday. The result of the “Eli’s Coming” gig is hilarious and surprising and becomes the tale that is told and retold within the family for years to come. The gig gets repeated over-and-over again for other family and friends. Seeing all of the hardship around him with people out of work, losing their homes, he decides there is a better use for this gift. He recruits a team to anonymously distribute the money he’s won to middle class people who have been adversely affected by the greed and corruption of a few. What he does with the money is amazing and heart warming and serves as a lesson to us all in these troubled economic times. His wife and daughter will come to know the secret he’s kept from them for their own good. They’ll know the depth and breadth of his generosity as his exit strategy is executed to perfection.