Originally Posted by
SoberLeigh 
Irish beef is one of my favorites; I'm sure you'll nail the recipe, GC.
Thank God that your neighbor has you and your wife . .
Thanks for you vote of confidence with the stew. I know for sure that at a minimum I'll be able to get close and that the results will be tasty.
Regarding my neighbor, we're glad that we're able to help out and I know that our neighbor is very appreciative. What's been illuminating is how far we've come from having a youngster in the house.
When our kids were younger, it was our life and that was fine, but over the past number of years, when often they haven't been living with us and even when they have there was and is an inherent independence that comes from living on one's own, my wife and I have become accustomed to not being tethered to the schedule of an 8th grader. I don't mean that in a bad way, just that someone her age, especially one who is not living in her own house with her mother, needs a certain level of care and mindfulness on our part, especially with the added stress of what's going on with her grandfather.