Wednesday, January 11, 2006
OCTOBER THROUGH DECEMBER....2001
Fall passed quietly. Rocky was hauling pipe from Pittsburg, Kansas to all points and I was working part time at the Barn. In November we had an early Thanksgiving and three birthday celebrations in our home for Rocky’s family….we then spent Thanksgiving in Shawnee with George later in the month.
December came in with cold and rain…..Rocky and I drove over to Branson to see the Christmas lights and to see the Gatlin Brothers perform. They put on a good show. We met Rocky’s brother Richard and his wife, Helen, where they were staying and we had a nice day together before we all left for other places. Somehow the gifts and cards were finished and after several Christmas parties here and there we got ready to go to John and Barb’s for Christmas. A real Cajun Christmas. George drove down to go with us and Becky came along.
After a long day of driving we arrived around 6:30pm and we unloaded the van…..then piled back in to meet some of John and Barb’s friends at a restaurant. They all had a regular Friday night thing at this one place “where every one knows your name” kind of an atmosphere. John introduced his mom and her “new husband who got her pregnant and had to marry her” to the table of people amid gales of laughter. Everyone knows John and his sense of humor….anyone is fair game….even his mother. I knew everyone at the table and Rocky fit right in with the frivolity of the evening.
The next day we toured around the city to see things we hadn’t seen on other visits. One very interesting stop was the newly opened WW 11 Museum….Rocky and I were kids when all that was going on and we shared memories of it all with each other as we walked along and looked at the displays. In the evening we were able to take in one of LJ’s basketball games which was nice. In all the time he was growing up and playing, it was the only time I was able to see a game. It was nice to see some of his friends again that we had kept overnight on some of their trips back to the KU basketball camps.
We celebrated George’s 51st birthday while we were there and the next day went to John and Barb’s large church. It was beyond large but there was a very warm and vital feel to the service and we enjoyed the sermon very much. The pastor was a former professor of John’s at the Seminary. In the afternoon couples began arriving to join us for an evening in New Orleans. John had arranged for a limo to take all of us for some night life down in the “Quarter” which we always enjoy. We had never been there at Christmas time so it was a totally different atmosphere. We were driven through a large park decorated with millions of Christmas lights like a fairy wonderland…..simply beautiful….and then stopped at a few of the large hotels to look at the decorations of the season. Brian, one of the friends who grew up in the area, clued us in that this particular hotel was where all of the “prom dates’ headed for. It brought back lots of memories for him and made it interesting for us as he told “how it used to be.”
We ended up at John’s favorite place, O’Flairity’s. It had the air of an Irish pub with an Irish musician sitting on a stool playing a guitar and singing ridiculous Irish songs with crowd participation. We laughed our sides out at the silliness but it was good natured and fun. Becky slipped up to the musician and had him play a lovely wedding song for us……..we were introduced to the crowd and he sang a very nice song of blessings to us. It was altogether lovely.
The next day we were back at the French Quarter to have beignets and chicory coffee at Café du Monde……a place we simply have to frequent at least once a trip. It is George’s favorite of New Orleans and big on my list as well. I love to sit and watch the people go by and enjoy the sounds, the smells and the gaiety of the city. There is no place on earth quite like New Orleans. People are so free and uninhibited….it is a perfect place to have fun and celebrate life.
From there we went through the shops and the Flea Market to finish our stocking gifts and then home to prepare for Christmas the next day. We opened gifts the morning of the 25th after breakfast and then Barbara and Becky insisted I join the guys to watch movies while they fixed the Christmas meal…..Cajun style. I think I could get used to that…it was actually pretty nice to be ‘one of the guys’ and let someone else do all the work.
We had a wonderful dinner with all the trimmings and the girls did a fantastic job. It was the perfect finish to a perfect visit………the next day we had to come home and John and Barb had to go back to work. However short our visits are, they are always….but always….memorable. George left the next day from here and we drove to Neosho to meet with Rocky’s family for a Christmas celebration at his daughter, Holly’s home. Rocky’s youngest daughter, Janet and her daughter Jessica, came back for Christmas (from California) and so all the Rockenback kids were together which doesn’t happen very often, either. Rocky’s son Michael who was still living at the farm was also there.
…..and so we spent our first Christmas together, shared with my family and his. We were getting to know each other better with each passing day and getting acquainted with the families we brought to each other. It takes a lot of stretching to pack it all in but one thing about the heart….it has no boundaries. It can be as big as we let it be……….
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
December came in with cold and rain…..Rocky and I drove over to Branson to see the Christmas lights and to see the Gatlin Brothers perform. They put on a good show. We met Rocky’s brother Richard and his wife, Helen, where they were staying and we had a nice day together before we all left for other places. Somehow the gifts and cards were finished and after several Christmas parties here and there we got ready to go to John and Barb’s for Christmas. A real Cajun Christmas. George drove down to go with us and Becky came along.
After a long day of driving we arrived around 6:30pm and we unloaded the van…..then piled back in to meet some of John and Barb’s friends at a restaurant. They all had a regular Friday night thing at this one place “where every one knows your name” kind of an atmosphere. John introduced his mom and her “new husband who got her pregnant and had to marry her” to the table of people amid gales of laughter. Everyone knows John and his sense of humor….anyone is fair game….even his mother. I knew everyone at the table and Rocky fit right in with the frivolity of the evening.
The next day we toured around the city to see things we hadn’t seen on other visits. One very interesting stop was the newly opened WW 11 Museum….Rocky and I were kids when all that was going on and we shared memories of it all with each other as we walked along and looked at the displays. In the evening we were able to take in one of LJ’s basketball games which was nice. In all the time he was growing up and playing, it was the only time I was able to see a game. It was nice to see some of his friends again that we had kept overnight on some of their trips back to the KU basketball camps.
We celebrated George’s 51st birthday while we were there and the next day went to John and Barb’s large church. It was beyond large but there was a very warm and vital feel to the service and we enjoyed the sermon very much. The pastor was a former professor of John’s at the Seminary. In the afternoon couples began arriving to join us for an evening in New Orleans. John had arranged for a limo to take all of us for some night life down in the “Quarter” which we always enjoy. We had never been there at Christmas time so it was a totally different atmosphere. We were driven through a large park decorated with millions of Christmas lights like a fairy wonderland…..simply beautiful….and then stopped at a few of the large hotels to look at the decorations of the season. Brian, one of the friends who grew up in the area, clued us in that this particular hotel was where all of the “prom dates’ headed for. It brought back lots of memories for him and made it interesting for us as he told “how it used to be.”
We ended up at John’s favorite place, O’Flairity’s. It had the air of an Irish pub with an Irish musician sitting on a stool playing a guitar and singing ridiculous Irish songs with crowd participation. We laughed our sides out at the silliness but it was good natured and fun. Becky slipped up to the musician and had him play a lovely wedding song for us……..we were introduced to the crowd and he sang a very nice song of blessings to us. It was altogether lovely.
The next day we were back at the French Quarter to have beignets and chicory coffee at Café du Monde……a place we simply have to frequent at least once a trip. It is George’s favorite of New Orleans and big on my list as well. I love to sit and watch the people go by and enjoy the sounds, the smells and the gaiety of the city. There is no place on earth quite like New Orleans. People are so free and uninhibited….it is a perfect place to have fun and celebrate life.
From there we went through the shops and the Flea Market to finish our stocking gifts and then home to prepare for Christmas the next day. We opened gifts the morning of the 25th after breakfast and then Barbara and Becky insisted I join the guys to watch movies while they fixed the Christmas meal…..Cajun style. I think I could get used to that…it was actually pretty nice to be ‘one of the guys’ and let someone else do all the work.
We had a wonderful dinner with all the trimmings and the girls did a fantastic job. It was the perfect finish to a perfect visit………the next day we had to come home and John and Barb had to go back to work. However short our visits are, they are always….but always….memorable. George left the next day from here and we drove to Neosho to meet with Rocky’s family for a Christmas celebration at his daughter, Holly’s home. Rocky’s youngest daughter, Janet and her daughter Jessica, came back for Christmas (from California) and so all the Rockenback kids were together which doesn’t happen very often, either. Rocky’s son Michael who was still living at the farm was also there.
…..and so we spent our first Christmas together, shared with my family and his. We were getting to know each other better with each passing day and getting acquainted with the families we brought to each other. It takes a lot of stretching to pack it all in but one thing about the heart….it has no boundaries. It can be as big as we let it be……….
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
