Kids Sure Can Surprise You

What a great kid. Child #1 did something sweet, special and thoughtful for his mom yesterday. After work he called to see if I would be home Friday evening. I told him that I would and he said great he would see me later. After a while he calls again hoping to talk to CEO Dad. Seems Child #1 is somewhere south of Toledo and there is a bunch of highway construction he hopes his father can route him around. (The CEO used to work in that area.) I asked him what in heck was he doing down there? He tells me he is on a mission to fetch a belated Christmas gift and I'll see when he gets home. Curiosity piqued. What in the world is he up to? I'm not THAT big a fan of Tony Packo's, he's surely not driving all the way to Cleveland to get us a Slyman's corned beef sandwich, it's the weekend and they close up about three in the afternoon. Cedar Point isn't open. Well, he arrives home about 8:30, having made a roadtrip to get his mom a case of..... Left Handed Milk Stout! The best beer I have ever had – well it is a stout actually. While on a trip to Tennessee with a friend of mine back in '04, we went to see a band (The Carburetors, check out their website. Rockabilly at it's finest!) at Barley's Tap Room in Knoxville. The place had a huge selection of microbrews, many that are unavailable in Michigan. I really love a nice dark beer and tried several of the ones available, but once I tasted the Left Hand Milk Stout, I knew this was the beer of my dreams. Full, rich, thick, the milk sugar gives it just a hint of sweetness and the chocolate hops add a delicious subtle undertone to the brew. Unfortunately when I came home and looked up the website of Left Hand Brewing Company I found that they do not have a presence in Michigan and the nearest distributor was about 150 miles away. Child #1 got hold of the distributor last week and arranged to have a case set aside for him at the nearest point to us that they deliver to. It was waiting for Child #1 with his name on it. The boy drove 130 miles after working all day to put a big smile on his mom's face. We each had one last night - well actually the CFO had 2 - and while I don't think he liked it as well as I do, he thought it was pretty fair. (We do have different tastes in beer, and now he definitely knows the type I like best.) The effort and thoughtfulness that went into his surprise will make every one of those beers all that much sweeter.