Thursday, December 15, 2005
MARCH....2001
I didn’t hear from Rocky again until March 8th……he called and was in the process of downsizing the dog kennel operation he and Mary had. They raised several small breeds of dogs and Mary had successfully bred a color into her line of poodles that put them in high demand. Her poodles were the reddest and were shipped all over the country.
Rocky was a truck driver. He was not used to being tied down in one place very long. With the emotional stress of losing Mary and having to deal with the “at home needs” he decided to sell his dogs. Now that was not an easy decision to come by. Rocky is a born animal lover and a stray animal always found a home with him. He had some cattle, goats, sheep, dogs, cats and everything in between.
Rocky also had a Freightliner truck and trailer that was parked. He was trying to decide what to do with the sudden change of fate that came upon him. His son, Michael, came to help out when Rocky decided to sell the dogs. His daughter Holly and Lisa, a close family friend, also pitched in and they shampooed, groomed and cleaned all of them for sale. It was a gargantuan task but they finished in time for the next dog auction.
That was the beginning. Eventually, Rocky let all of the animals go and I’m sure it took part of him with them. Rocky is fiercely loyal and any separation is tough for him. Even today he wonders where some of his old animal friends are and he calls them by the names he gave them……and then becomes lost in his own recollections. It’s sad.
Along with the above, Rocky and his late wife had a Flea Market at one time and he was encumbered with a house full of “stuff” he wanted to get rid of. He knew Becky and I had booths at the Antique Barn and asked if I would be interested in any of it. I offered to drive over and price it for him to sell locally but he didn’t want to fool with it……he counter-offered to bring it to me and I could do as I pleased with it….no price involved. I tried to talk him out of it but he wouldn’t hear of it.
I was working at the Antique Barn a lot of hours but we set a date for him to bring the things…. I said I would cook dinner for him. He came in a van loaded to the gills and I realized I had a huge job ahead to get the things cleaned and marked for sale. Becky, Rocky and I had Sunday dinner on March 18th. Becky and I went to early church and he arrived straight up at noon. He brought a lot of pictures to show me of his family and all the years since we were in school together. It was a nice day of remembering old times and I’m sure we bored Becky to death. We unloaded the van and he left late that afternoon. My mind was trying to realize that Don Rockenbach had just been here for dinner after all these years.
I was very sad to hear that a young church music director from our old church had died of lung cancer. He drove back and forth to Jonesboro, AR. to receive his Masters Degree in Music at a great sacrifice of time and effort. It was a shame because he had so much to live for…….even in the few years, since, medical advancement to cure cancer is saving so many more lives now. It’s coming too late for some of our loved ones.
Rocky was calling daily now. Sometimes six times a day…….he was making some big changes in his life and with each one he wanted to talk about it with me. I felt like a teen-ager with all the calls from a special beau. He drove over on one of my days off later in the month to show me the new van he bought. He was very proud of it and he knew I had been talking about going to Mountain Home, AR. to look through some flea markets so he suggested we go for a drive and try out his van. We ended up at Mountain Home, had a nice lunch and then checked out some Antique stores.
The next day was Becky’s birthday so we took her back to Mountain Home to all the places we had been……we had a nice day and we bought some things….then stopped at a favorite Chinese restaurant of ours for supper on the way home.
On March 30th Rocky came back and brought more stuff for me to clean and sell. After he unloaded it we drove up the road to Cabool where we first met, up on Bulldog Hill and looked around the school grounds. Of course a lot of it has changed and is very new but the old buildings are still there and with any imagination at all we could visualize how “it used to be.” Memories came flooding back like yesterday. We drove around town, laughing about things that happened here and there……recalling those fun school days……and then drove out to his family farm. His parents actually left Cabool sometime around 1952 (Rocky couldn’t remember for sure)…..it made us both sad to see it. Nothing stays the same except in our minds and hearts.
We drove by the old farm at Tyrone where mom and dad bought their little piece of heaven in 1945.…….we each were touching base with our roots and the path that brought us together so long ago. When Rocky brought me home, he asked me to marry him and I said I would…….and so, after all these years, we had come full circle……..
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
Rocky was a truck driver. He was not used to being tied down in one place very long. With the emotional stress of losing Mary and having to deal with the “at home needs” he decided to sell his dogs. Now that was not an easy decision to come by. Rocky is a born animal lover and a stray animal always found a home with him. He had some cattle, goats, sheep, dogs, cats and everything in between.
Rocky also had a Freightliner truck and trailer that was parked. He was trying to decide what to do with the sudden change of fate that came upon him. His son, Michael, came to help out when Rocky decided to sell the dogs. His daughter Holly and Lisa, a close family friend, also pitched in and they shampooed, groomed and cleaned all of them for sale. It was a gargantuan task but they finished in time for the next dog auction.
That was the beginning. Eventually, Rocky let all of the animals go and I’m sure it took part of him with them. Rocky is fiercely loyal and any separation is tough for him. Even today he wonders where some of his old animal friends are and he calls them by the names he gave them……and then becomes lost in his own recollections. It’s sad.
Along with the above, Rocky and his late wife had a Flea Market at one time and he was encumbered with a house full of “stuff” he wanted to get rid of. He knew Becky and I had booths at the Antique Barn and asked if I would be interested in any of it. I offered to drive over and price it for him to sell locally but he didn’t want to fool with it……he counter-offered to bring it to me and I could do as I pleased with it….no price involved. I tried to talk him out of it but he wouldn’t hear of it.
I was working at the Antique Barn a lot of hours but we set a date for him to bring the things…. I said I would cook dinner for him. He came in a van loaded to the gills and I realized I had a huge job ahead to get the things cleaned and marked for sale. Becky, Rocky and I had Sunday dinner on March 18th. Becky and I went to early church and he arrived straight up at noon. He brought a lot of pictures to show me of his family and all the years since we were in school together. It was a nice day of remembering old times and I’m sure we bored Becky to death. We unloaded the van and he left late that afternoon. My mind was trying to realize that Don Rockenbach had just been here for dinner after all these years.
I was very sad to hear that a young church music director from our old church had died of lung cancer. He drove back and forth to Jonesboro, AR. to receive his Masters Degree in Music at a great sacrifice of time and effort. It was a shame because he had so much to live for…….even in the few years, since, medical advancement to cure cancer is saving so many more lives now. It’s coming too late for some of our loved ones.
Rocky was calling daily now. Sometimes six times a day…….he was making some big changes in his life and with each one he wanted to talk about it with me. I felt like a teen-ager with all the calls from a special beau. He drove over on one of my days off later in the month to show me the new van he bought. He was very proud of it and he knew I had been talking about going to Mountain Home, AR. to look through some flea markets so he suggested we go for a drive and try out his van. We ended up at Mountain Home, had a nice lunch and then checked out some Antique stores.
The next day was Becky’s birthday so we took her back to Mountain Home to all the places we had been……we had a nice day and we bought some things….then stopped at a favorite Chinese restaurant of ours for supper on the way home.
On March 30th Rocky came back and brought more stuff for me to clean and sell. After he unloaded it we drove up the road to Cabool where we first met, up on Bulldog Hill and looked around the school grounds. Of course a lot of it has changed and is very new but the old buildings are still there and with any imagination at all we could visualize how “it used to be.” Memories came flooding back like yesterday. We drove around town, laughing about things that happened here and there……recalling those fun school days……and then drove out to his family farm. His parents actually left Cabool sometime around 1952 (Rocky couldn’t remember for sure)…..it made us both sad to see it. Nothing stays the same except in our minds and hearts.
We drove by the old farm at Tyrone where mom and dad bought their little piece of heaven in 1945.…….we each were touching base with our roots and the path that brought us together so long ago. When Rocky brought me home, he asked me to marry him and I said I would…….and so, after all these years, we had come full circle……..
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
