Romeo's Cross

An unlikely travel story

I don’t keep money in Clarence’s glove box. But I do stash some in the small storage compartment to the left of the steering wheel, but only when I’m driving. I don’t leave any in there overnight. However, all hell broke loose immediately after the January accident in Flagstaff. I was so busy transporting all our possessions, and ourselves, into a rental vehicle during a winter storm while a tow truck was taking Clarence away that I left a few hundred dollars behind.

A week later I thought about that money while we were in Utah and Clarence was at the auto body shop in Arizona. 

I told my friend Lisa that I was more concerned about leaving behind the wooden cross her father, Romeo gave me several years ago.

Romeo Dorval gave a similar cross to those he loved toward the end of his life.

Romeo’s cross means than money, and I do leave that in the glove compartment. It’s a talisman of our friendship, and at times it reminds me my friend is still with me. It is a comfort to have him traveling …