This picture is the last Christmas Rocky was able to decorate. He died the next April. No matter how bad the weather was he always decorated the front of the house as he knew how much it meant to me. Now the pictures still bring joy because they remind me how much he loved making me happy.

Where to begin. I see my last post was December 18th. Somewhere I got off the freeway and took a wrong turn. Where that time has gone I do not know. The molar I mentioned was “fixed” on the following Monday and it was an unforgettable experience. No, it didn’t hurt and was probably done in around 45-minutes. However…..a problem I hadn’t considered…..was holding my mouth open for that long.

The deadening was perfect….didn’t feel a thing. Dr. Raphael had trouble with my mouth being small and my teeth being long rooted. An amazing discovery. He kindly kept asking me to “open” and I swear, I would have had to unhinge my jaw to help him any. I did the best I could and what seemed a simple request turned into a marathon. I will never hold my mouth open again.

We were blessed with phone calls and visits from a large part of the Rocky/Esther families and we had lots of time to visit and eat. It was good to see and hear from everyone and the weather behaved (well, sort of) so our families could come and go on good roads.

Since the last guest left I have been attending to things that had to wait over the Christmas holiday. It doesn’t take long for things to get ahead of me. Today is one of those “things” I let go…..posting a blog. So I’m back to my regular routine, and hopefully can post a picture or two, soon.

To all of you who read Essentially Esther, my hope is that you had a wonderful gathering of your own and time to reflect on the wonderful gift handed down to all of us. The gift the birth of Christ made possible…….eternal life.

Essentially Esther