Brownies from the Neighborhood Gang ~ Thanks!

For those of you who are not lucky enough to have your own neighborhood fan club, you’re missing out!  
There are many wonderful things about moving back to the Midwest – the Packers!, big fluffy snowflakes, ice-skating on small quaint ponds, bright pink and white blossoms in the spring, red gold and orange maple leaves in the fall and best of all, a community and real neighborhoods nestled in every corner of the city with its own ‘block family’.  
I’ve felt my neighborhood come together many times over the past two years of living here from the summertime block parties, announcements tucked in my door of new babies born on the block, neighborhood families coming to the door with cookies for the Christmas season to the cluster of children that gather in our yard on weekend days to play.  If you want a good dose of what it is to feel ‘included’ or ‘loved’ by the people in your community, come on down to my hood.  There’s a unique group of kiddos that gather on the block that seem to always have the neighborhood hopping.  From their careless summer days to their wintertime ice skating down the ice covered sidewalks, they always seem to make the best out of even the coldest winter day.  It gives me a sense of nostalgia to remember what it was like living in the Midwest as a youngster.  It makes me smile to think that life was and still is, truly this simple.
Which, brings me to my ‘thank you’.  A few days ago, I suffered a back injury which has left me lying flat on my back, pent up in the house for a period of what has felt like eternity.  From the second I arrived home gimping from the car to my front step, I’ve had a wonderful slew of phone calls, emails and well wishings. All so appreciated, yet at the same time one came extra special last night.  My door bell rang at about 7pm, to find my two favorite neighbors standing at my door with a homemade card and a hot plate of brownies.  (Little did they know that I had been begging for brownies the night before.)  With a very carefully drawn artsy card and a wonderful message written on the back (of course made from scratch), my heart swelled with appreciation for the very small things that make life as special as it truly is.  Miss Grace, the baker of the group made a delicious batch of brownies from scratch with the help of her older brother Joe and their very good friend Brigid.  Feeling certainly blessed and loved, I can only think that my back will heal that much quicker with the help and prayers of my wonderful neighborhood gang.  
So with my little ‘thank you’, I say…find yourself a good group of neighborhood kids to surround yourselves with.  You’ll be reminded of the fact that it’s truly the simplest things in life that bring peace and joy to your everyday.  
Thanks so much Grace, Joe and Brigid!