class ActiveFedora::Associations::Association

not reraised. The proxy is \reset and +nil+ is the return value.
ActiveFedora::ObjectNotFoundError is rescued within the method, and it is

+load_target+ unconditionally to get the \target.
If the \target is already \loaded it is just returned. Thus, you can call

which is expected to be provided by descendants.
This method is abstract in the sense that it relies on +find_target+,

Loads the \target if needed and returns it.

def load_target
  @target = find_target if (@stale_state && stale_target?) || find_target?
  loaded! unless loaded?
  target
end