Today is a special young lady’s birthday. My grand-daughter, Jennifer. She was born in a hot month and at the ripe old age of 40, she made me a grand-mother. She and I have always had a close relationship…..like grandchildren and grandma’s are supposed to have.

She lived in our town for years and as the family moved here and there we were always able to keep close touch with each other. Of course, like all little girls do, she met her prince charming and married……leaving our part of the world for unexplored horizons.

She burst out of being a shy little girl to an accomplished business woman and never looked back. She happened to be working just blocks away from the Twin Towers when the airplanes flew into them that day. From her high windows she watched the horrifying tragedy play out until they were told to leave the building and walk to the Subway’s to try and board their commuter trains. She caught the last one home.

She described how so many of the usual passengers weren’t on the homeward bound commuter trains that evening……..and a lot of cars stood empty at the commuter parking areas along the way……she feared the owners were lost and later learned many of them were.

She is extremely talented, vivacious and pretty. One thing she inherited from her grandmother is her love of ice-cream……well, chocolate is close there, too. When she was very little we bought a rocking chair to rock her to sleep in. We kept her a lot and couldn’t do without a rocker.

One day we loaded it up and took it all the way to her house……..it is on her front porch now and I hope once in a while she sits in it and remembers either her grandpa or grandma singing her little, “Jennifer Ratcha Bunny” song to her. We spent a lot of time in that rocker and so, we made up a special song, just for her.

Happy Birthday, Jennifer and may you have many, many more…..all of them happy and fulfilled. We love you…………….

Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther