As we get closer to moving, I get more anxious to make sure my human connections are strong. It’s as though I want to make sure I know where all my friends and family are, so when we turn eveything upside down in a move, I’ll know where to look for familiar faces.

In that spirit I finally found the one Duck I haven’t seen since 1997. The rest I saw after they moved to L.A. when I was in Berkeley and treated them awfully, or in Boston when I went back for a visit. This sweet Goose escaped my tractor beam during the last two moves. But I found him!

And he has the most gorgeous wife and amazing new twins! It was glorious to see them.

It was hard to leave when we had to leave for Peanut’s bedtime extravaganza. I was sad, and wanted to go back as soon as we got out the front door. As we were walking to the car, and I was telling Spouse how much the Duck means to me, and how sad it was to see this particularly pleasant Duck for the first time in eleven years just before I leave. Then some guy turned left into a motorcycle right next to us.

The rider was stunned ad bruised but fine, but his bike needed some help. The driver was shaken so badly most passersby tried to help him instead of the rider. The accident skittered away from us rather than into us, but I still stood there crying, hoping nobody else ever gets in a car accident (and watching Spouse take over the assistance efforts, directing volunteer helpers to do a variety of tasks).

Peanut wanted to know why I was sad. I couldn’t say, “because everyone I love is going to die and I’m sorry we had to leave the twins just because you need a bath but I’m supposed to be responsible now and that alone makes me cry sometimes.” So, instead, I said, “that car knocked down that motorcycle, and it scared me. That’s why everyone wears a helmet when they ride a motorcycle–in case they fall down. That man fell down, but he’s okay. Everyone’s okay. Mommy’s just sad because she got scared. But everybody’s okay.”

God, I hope everybody’s okay.