A couple months ago, my wife arranged for she and I to have a little retreat this past weekend. That was before all the surgeries, hospitalizations, health emergencies and all so on. Since this weekend ended up being clear, we stuck to our plans and headed to St. Augustine.

It was the longest time that we had both been away from the kids – two straight days and the night between them. We had a great time, but we were both ready to see them again by the time we returned on Sunday.

After pulling into the driveway, I shouldered the bags and made a bee-line for the front door.

I pushed through the door – only to discover the dogs were the only ones waiting for me. The kids were somewhere else. I shouted to let them know I was here. C drifted out into the kitchen and looked at me. “Where’s mom?”

“Where’s MOM?” I shouted.

He grinned. “Yeah. Where’s mom?”

Sheesh.