Sad?? You are Not Alone

     Ever have those moments, in life when all that was important at that very second!, is no longer important, with a life changing event. It was not a life changing event for me, per se, it was rather for  my youngest son.

     In our neighborhood, we are blessed to have nosey neighbors, people who care what you are up to. Moving from rural Putney to Brattleboro was scary and exciting. In Putney, we lived on the third floor of an old house. Never saw your neighbors much. Kinda like living in a tree house. Only problem was the backyard was a straight down cliff. Anyone who travels through that gully, will find baby bottles, blocks and anything else my oldest son launched off our porch.

     My neighborhood is the atypical neighborhood. Sometimes we should be careful what we ask for. All those lonely days, sitting in the tree house wishing for friends,for my son.  I was more excited that we didn't have to climb two staircases. Not going to the laundry mat,a huge plus! You'd think I would not whine having to do one load of laundry, after that. How quickly we forget.

     The best thing about the neighborhood I live in, is that everyone looks out for the kids. Some are little snots and some are littler snots, and there is no shortage of parents that remind these kids to behave on a regular basis. On such person, was Kenny. My youngest would come home often talking about Kenny, how he was a good guy. My husband being from this area knew him, so I was OK with it. The only time I ever met Kenny was when he came to my husband and I, about my son's gift with sign language, if you get my drift. For some reason he enjoyed flipping the bird, if a situation did not turn out the way he wanted.

     Kenny, was the kind of man that never hesitated when it came to the truth. Come to find out my boy, my sweet little boy, has the mouth of a trucker and the sign language to match, and the two little brothers that come over are in it as deep. I am grateful that Kenny was bold enough to tell us the truth, and not the G-rated version. Aren't kids great?

     It is with a heavy heart,  I tell you that Kenny passed away this Tuesday. The worst part about the whole situation was that we heard the news from my youngest son. This is one of the times, that both my husband and I, are not too experienced in. My husband is a very nurturing kind of guy, so we decided, that he should go into battle first. I would follow later with copious amounts of McDonald's.

     This plan seemed to work very well, there was an initial melancholy feel to the room, but as soon as the sedating effect of the food came over them it was OK. Thing is, I never buy fast food, because it generates a feeding frenzy and a subsequent desire for more fast food. Why are there no DEA officers there? I have proof that it insights "I think, we should have McDonald's once a month?", questions like "Are you going to eat that?", and "That is the last burger, we should split it!"

    My solution to an uncomfortable situation is to find food, anything that will lessen the pain someone is feeling. It is natural for me, to want to nurture and bear that pain for them. We are parents, that is what we do. My kids love to make Monkey Bread with me because they can do it themselves. It has a very gratifying effect on them. So when your kids are blue, and only a parents love will do. Make monkey bread with them.

Monkey Bread with Ginger Cream cheese Icing

4 tubes of refrigerated biscuits
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup Vermont maple syrup
2 1/2 sticks of butter (1 1/4 cup)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Melt 1 stick of butter and set aside. In a Ziploc bag(easiest way) place the granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves and give a little shake. Grease liberally with butter or pan spray a 9 or 10 inch Bundt pan. Open tubes of biscuits and quarter each biscuit. Allow the kids to roll into balls, dip in butter and shake in the spice sugar . Layer in the Bundt pan, with the 1/2 cup of chopped pecans until all the biscuits are gone.  In a saucepan melt the remaining butter with the brown sugar and maple syrup, bring to a boil for 1 minute. Pour over the biscuits. Bake in a 350F oven for 35 minutes. Let cool and turn out onto a plate.

Icing

1/2 pound cream cheese
1/2 butter
1 pound powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp lemon juice
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. When the bread has been turned out on the plate, hand each child, in my case,two butter knives and spread the warm buns until the icing is gone. Pull apart and enjoy with a huge glass of cold milk.

A child is a curly dimpled lunatic.~Ralph Waldo Emerson