A few things Biscuit has said recently:
He calls 'em like he sees 'em: Jeff, Biscuit and I were at the dinner table earlier this week, and I was talking about my brother.
"Mom, I think he's a redhead," Biscuit said.
"A redhead? What do you mean?" I asked him. My brother has had dark hair all his life.
"Well, you know, he drives a truck, and he lives in the country, and he rides four-wheelers."
"Oh! A redhead." I said.
I knew he meant a redneck, but first of all, I didn't want to teach him that word because it has such a negative connotation. Plus, I didn't have the time to explain to him that there's a difference between a country boy, a good ol' boy and a redneck.
So for now, my brother will just have to remain a redhead.
Love stories: Jeff, Biscuit and I were eating dinner, and out of nowhere, Biscuit started a big ol' conversation.
"Mom, did you have boyfriends when you were in school?" Biscuit asked.
"Yes, I did," I told him.
"Were you in college or regular school?" he asked.
"I had boyfriends in high school and college," I said. "And I had some boyfriends after college."
"When you broke up with them, did they become your enemies?" he asked.
"Well, some did, and some didn't," I explained to him. "I was with one boyfriend from high school all the way into college. We talked about getting married, but then we broke up. After that, I guess you could say yes, he was my enemy."
"Why did you break up?" he asked.
And because Biscuit is nowhere near being ready to hear about what happened in that relationship, I said, "We just realized we didn't love each other anymore."
He seemed a little sad about that, so I figured I'd tell him about a non-enemy old boyfriend.
"But you know, when I first moved here, I met this guy that I really liked," I told him. "We dated for a while, and he was a really, really nice guy."
"I bet I know who that was," Biscuit said, and he pointed to Jeff.
"Actually, that was before Dad and I started dating," I told him.
You should've seen the look on his face. It was like the look I had when I realized that my Grandaddy was not the first guy my Granny dated!
"What happened to him?" Biscuit asked.
"Well," I told him, "like I said, he was a really nice guy. But I just realized that as much as I liked him, he wasn't the guy I wanted to marry. But he and I are friends now. Neither of us wanted to be enemies. Why are you asking me these questions?"
"Well, Bea (not her real name) told me today at recess that she thought we should break up," he said. "It was definitely not my idea, and I didn't want us to be enemies. So when she said she wanted to break up, I just said, 'No way, Jose!' Then we talked it out and got everything straight, so we called off the breakup, and then we played together again."
The funny thing is, he's never mentioned Bea being a girlfriend. They were in kindergarten together and after-school care together, and I think other people made comments about them always being together enough so that they figured they were a couple.
I didn't marry Jeff until I was 34, almost 35. I had just decided that the whole marriage/kid thing wasn't for me. Then Jeff came along and screwed up all my plans!
So many of my family members and the older ladies in the community I grew up in told me I needed to marry somebody and settle down. But after that high school-into-college boyfriend, I just decided that I would never settle in the love area. I would rather have been on my own that to be in a relationship that wasn't what it needed to be.
I hope that I remember to tell Biscuit that often. I want him to know that finding the right person makes all the difference.
And if he and Bea stay together, I'll be okay with that, too.
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