Happy New Ear

We just got home from a New Year's Eve party at our neighbor's house, with the requisite celebration and overall good cheer.  I get a call from my mom and dad, who pass on their best wishes.

The real reason I'm happy is because my mom, after undergoing two separate surgeries to replace one of her middle ear bones with a piece of titanium in early December, is regaining the auditory function of her left ear which had been deteriorating due to some unknown cause since her teens.  By this stage in her life she was almost deaf in this ear, and the process of hearing again (ever so slightly) for her is nothing short of remarkable.  She is giddy with excitement, as are we.   

Happy 2008!