I had today’s post all planned. It was going to be a cheery one, all about the joys of Mystery Knit-Alongs and the fun to be had there. All of that went out of my head yesterday morning when the husband called and began the conversation with the words “I’ve just been in an accident.”

Let me say upfront that he’s okay, a fact he quickly assured me of. But there was that heart-stopping moment between his first sentence and the second where the bottom fell out of my world. A thousand scenarios ran through my head, quickly dismissed to be replaced by a thousand worse ones.

The details of the accident aren’t important (he was rear-ended, other driver’s fault) and the husband saw the doctor yesterday afternoon, who confirmed he seems to be okay. Given that, I can live with everything else. I can live with the fact I’ll be working from home for the next week because the car he was driving was a loaner. Our car is in the shop and won’t be ready until some point next week (it was the mechanic’s car; we’ve known him a long time). I can live with the fact any plans we had for the weekend have been cancelled because of the lack of transport. We have friends who’ll help us with the essentials and my boss was terribly understanding, even making certain I had a phone with company minutes so I won’t run through my personal plan when I have to be on calls.

I can live with all of that because we have friends and we’re not alone, but most of all, because my husband’s okay. He’s slightly sore this morning, with some stiff muscles, but he’s not in pain and he doesn’t have any bruises. Not even from where I hugged him very hard when I saw him yesterday afternoon.

Any time someone talks about setting priorites, one of the first things that’s talked about is what’s most important. When we’re warm and safe, it’s easy to talk about generalities or make a well-reasoned list that includes not only caring for our families, but following our passions. I know those lists because I’ve made more than one. Right now, writing and editing to get it published is a big priorty, the one that really has been driving the rhythm of our household lately.

I didn’t write yesterday. I looked at the table where the short story is laid out in mid-edit – and walked away. Last night, those priorities didn’t matter because all I wanted to do was curl up with my husband, because suddenly the most important thing in the world were two words: “I’m okay.”

Cherish those dearest to you because, you know, life is what happens.