State Farm puts out a series of joking commercials. The punch line being that of all the people in your insurance agentâs life, youâre the one they care about most- youâre the person they can teleport to.
Itâs bold of them to joke about something so controversial. After all, who your âport is can make or break a relationship. Study after study has been done on the âport between parent and child and psychiatrists are always analyzing your âport history.
The commercials are tacky, too. They make fun of the power inherent in a personâs greatest love. Thatâs what a âport is, after all, your love for someone being strong enough to take you to wherever they are. All in all State Farmâs âgood neighborâ commercials leave people shaking their heads and laughing uncomfortably.
Caitlynâs not laughing when a man brings a gun to her school.
Her class is on the yard and thereâs no warning- heâs just there, with a gun, and her kids are frozen.
Mickeyâs too close too close and not moving and the man is turning the gun towards him. Mickeyâs only 8 and he drives her nuts most days. He cries and screams and he runs away and he makes things up and he loves his mom and his sister and he cried when Caitlyn got stitches and she loves him she loves him she loves him.
She feels a moment of disorientation and suddenly sheâs between the man and the boy.
She doesnât hesitate, just wraps herself around Mickey. Then she closes her eyes and reaches inside herself for the first-easiest-always, thinks I love you I love you I love you and feels the shift of the âport.
And her eyes land on Zeke, who is jerking to his feet in shock, and she feels a huge wave of relief. Zekeâs been her âport since they were months old and her aunt got up one morning to find two babies in the crib instead of one. These days they usually plan their visits and Caitlynâs never brought a kid before, so Zeke has questions in his eyes.
Before he can voice any, sheâs pushing Mickey towards him and gasping out âI have to go back-â
And sheâs thinking of the next closest kid, Jasper, one of her rough and tumble boys, heâs so big, 8 years old and almost as tall as her, Jazz is learning to control his temper and his energy but thereâs a sweetness to him that comes out at the oddest moments. Itâs easy to declare I love I love I love and then sheâs grabbing Jazz and sending herself back to Zekeâs shelter.
Heâs a little more prepared this time, reaching out to steady her and guide Jazz away while she turns her thoughts and heart to the next kid.
And sheâs gone and grabbing Topher, her sweet boy who listens and cares and tries, and theyâre back to Zeke.
And sheâs gone and grabbing Zornitsa, her scampy little comedian, and back to Zeke.
And sheâs gone and grabbing Ariel and Kaho and Clarissa, her gymnast trio with their fierceness and their determination, and back to Zeke.
This time she thinks to shrug her backpack off and gasp out âThereâs a list- in the emergency folder-â
And then sheâs gone again.
When she reaches for Heidi, her zippy little miss who wonât touch fruit and loves worms and has grown so much, that she lands inside. She pulls Heidi and Adela into her arms and shifts back to Zeke.
Her kids are away from the man with the gun and she feels shaky. She takes a couple breaths, bracing her hands on her thighs. Then she thinks of passion-dedication-exasperation, guide and guidee, and wraps that all around her I love I love I love.
The next moment sheâs in a closet turned office made all the smaller by the crush of people in it. She looks up at her boss as several kids stifle startled yelps and Colin looks back with wide eyes under his tangled mop of curls.
âWhat-â he starts to ask.
âThird grade was on the yard, there wasnât time to get indoors, but I think I got them all safe,â Caitlyn tells him.
âLike this,â she says, voice tinged with hysterical laughter.
She wraps her arms around Carmela, Elizaveta, Winona, and Joanna and reaches for Zeke. She drops the girls off and goes back to Colin, who goggles.
âI know you need to stay on site, but I thought you should know that Iâm evacuating our kids,â Caitlyn tells him.
Colin shakes off his astonishment and squares his lanky shoulders.
âCan you get to kinder?â he asks, eyes lighting up.
âYes,â Caitlyn says, âwith Nancy there that will be easy.â
âGet them all out,â Colin says, âand tell Nancy to start listing who is safe, have her message me.â
âWill do,â she says with a nod. She grabs the three remaining kids and takes them to Zeke.
She thinks of Nancy then, they have different classes this year but theyâre still brain mates, still the team, and itâs easy to wrap finishing each others sentences and communicating without words around her I love I love I love.
Nancy startles when she appears, and several of the babies scream. Team Kinder moves into action, hushing and calming. Nancy just waits, meeting Caitlynâs eyes.
âColin sent me, Iâm evacuating you guys,â Caitlyn explains. âI can take as many as I can hold at a time. How do you want to do this?â
âStart with Mr. Mason and Bashir and Rafael,â Nancy says. âIâll have the next group ready when you get back.
Caitlyn nods and grabs them.
Things go pretty smoothly after that. Nancy sends kinder off a group at a time and then quickly takes control of the chaotic crowd that Caitlyn has already saved.
Caitlyn moves on grade by grade, finding her way to the colleagues she is so so grateful to work with.
By the time the cops secure the man with the gun, the school is empty, everyone 150 miles away.
When they ask later how she did it she looks right at them.
âLove is love,â she says, âthereâs no such thing as more or less,â she shakes her head slightly, âitâs not quantifiable, thereâs no scale that can measure it, love is.â