He's always on my mind

Biscuit feels completely comfortable at my parents' house. He walks in like he owns the place, and makes himself right at home.

So I was a little worried when Jeff and I got ready to leave on our anniversary trip last Monday morning, and Biscuit was a little fretful.

Biscuit was going to spend the night with my brother and his family Monday night because Mama had an early doctor's appointment Tuesday. Then he was going to spend the rest of the nights at Mama's. Well, I apparently didn't make the plan completely clear to Biscuit.

"Mom, where will I sleep tonight?" Biscuit asked.

"Here's how it's going to go," I told him. "This afternoon, your aunt will come and pick you up. Then tonight, you'll stay at your aunt and uncle's house. Tomorrow afternoon, Grandmama will pick you up, and you'll spend the rest of the time at her house. Got it?"

"I go to their house tonight, then I stay with Grandmama the rest of the time?" Biscuit asked.

"Yes," I told him. "That's the plan."

Grandmama and Papa support Biscuit and his imagination. They play restaurant with him. They evacuate when Firefighter Biscuit tells them they should. My Daddy plays guitar and sings with Biscuit.

And since Biscuit has been into stagecoaches and wagons lately, they didn't think twice about helping hook up his "horses" to his stagecoach (aka rocking chair) in the living room.

After Biscuit knew the plan, he didn't seem bothered at all that Jeff and I were leaving. It makes me happy and sad at the same time. Happy that he's so independent and sad that he didn't care that I was leaving. But I guess if I'm truthful, I'd always rather him be independent than clingy.

Jeff and I went to Charleston, S.C., for our trip. I booked us a hotel room on the beach, thinking that since I showed Jeff the highlights of Charleston on a trip a few years ago, we  would have the freedom to either drive into town or stick close to the ocean. Two fine choices, I must say.

But Biscuit was never far from my mind. It seemed like everywhere we looked, we were seeing things that reminded us of him. And of course, I took pictures of some of those things.

I talked to Biscuit on the phone every day, but he's not much for chatting that way. He and I would trade a couple of sentences, then he would say, "Okay. Well, I love you. Bye." And that was that.

When we got back to Mama's on Friday evening, I could tell Biscuit had missed me -- at least a little bit. He was stuck to me the rest of the evening. Biscuit is a hands-on, lovey-dovey boy, anyway, but I couldn't begin to tell you how many kisses I got Friday evening.

Here are some pictures of things that reminded me of Biscuit:

Charleston is a port town, so we saw lots of ships from the balcony of our hotel.

Kiteboarders zoomed back and forth in front of our hotel.

We went to see the baseball teamers play Thursday evening.

Jeff stands with a cannon at the edge of Charleston Harbor.

A Charleston police car.

A Coast Guard rescue helicopter.

And of course, a firetruck.