Season's Greetings!

I'm back to one letter almost fits all. Kindly forgive the lack of the personal touch.

I've had to hire a dear girl to address, stuff envelopes and stamp for me this year. Mom hopes this finds you and yours well.

We have been housebound since April when I learned I needed neck surgery. I had visited my doctor for my knee!. Surprise! I was really most fortunate. A rheumatoid nodule had grown on my spine causing numbness and dizziness. It dislocated the top two vertebrae in my neck. Surgery took place in May. I was sent home in a body and neck brace along with a hospital bed and an excellent home care. My mushy bones would not support the head halo that the surgeon expected to use. I could walk around. However, I stared at the ceiling until Labor Day. I could not even hold the phone above the brace with any degree of comfort. A Philadelphia collar replaced the brace until early October. Knee replacement surgery took place on October 14th. I am now home from rehab. I had the leg in a hip to ankle brace which wouldn't let me bend it for two weeks. The next brace allowed a 40 degree bend.

Needless to say, mom and I are looking forward to an uneventful 1998.

Fondly,

Abby