David

Shortly after Palmer's father and I moved into our apartment in Berkeley together in 2004, Dave said he had chatted with a guy out on the playground who seemed kind of cool, named David. A few months go by, and I put an add on the bulletin board that I am looking for someone to perhaps exchange babysitting duties with, so I can attend class. A cool and smart lady named Jana answers my ad. We meet, and in the course of the conversation, she mentions her husband is named David. Yes, the very same David my exhusband Dave had spoken to several months earlier.

They have a daughter the same age as Palmer, named Elizabeth, and the two of them are like cousins or an old married couple or something. They are always eager to see each other, have a lot of fun get but they also always have at least one fight during the visits.

Oddly enough, Jana divorced David about the same time Dave and I got divorced. But while I was in Iceland, Dave would sometimes invite Elizabeth over for a playdate with Palmer, and which ever parent had her that weekend would either accept or decline.

Halloween this year was my first chance to participate in this visit-go-round; I brought Palmer to Jana's house for trick-or-treating. So when I had the idea for a small Christmas gathering at my house, I asked Jana what she was doing. She said David had Elizabeth this weekend, so I invited David and Elizabeth over.

David has a brace on his back, which I was quite shocked to see. I knew he had had back surgery, but I did not know he needed a brace. He says he hopes 5 more weeks of this is all he'll need. But otherwise we talked about his involvement with the Occupy protests. He has been going to lots of events and has a 30 minute speech he likes to give, especially when cops are around, reminding them that they work for the people, not corporations. I kept thinking all night how much I wished my brother Erik had been there as well to join in the conversation.

Anyhow, Dave and David and Elizabeth all left together, promptly at 8pm, the witching hour for everyone with kids. If the little ones aren't asleep by 9pm at the latest, things are not pretty the next day.  Palmer I think dozed off by 9:10, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that our last day together before he heads off to Georgia in the evening goes smoothly.

And I keep thinking about this time last year, when I was packing up my stuff, leaving Iceland, on December 18th if memory serves. I cannot believe it has been a year.

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