knowing and not knowing

.
In the predawn darkness, with street lamps illuminating the frosted cars, suddenly everyone is gone.

My wife dropped off my son at his school, the gathering point for a track team that will compete at the other end of the state. Then she took off for New Jersey to visit her mother who is out of the hospital after being attacked by her heart problems. I knew my son was going somewhere, but I hadn't known my wife was.

Not knowing things in advance is less surprising than it once was.

When did knowing ever change anything?
.