Crossed

The first piece of jewelry that Kevin ever gave me was a gold cross. It was our first Christmas together, we'd been together two months and were pretty much living together. (i.e. I still had my apartment but just used it as storage)

I wear the cross every day. It only comes off when I need to detangle my hair from the clasp or I've broken the clasp trying to detangle it. As we could never discuss God stuff at the school, if kids ever asked me what or why I was wearing it, I would simply say "It helps keep me safe."

One day, a three-year old was fascinated with it. Mesmerized. Finally, she looked up at me with all seriousness and innocence, Miss Firegirl, why are you wearing an airplane?" One of my fave stories.

In all of the vehicles I've driven, I've always kept a cross hanging from the rear view mirror. They've never been expensive crosses, just ones that caught my eye for whatever reason.

The cross I have now is the cross that was hanging from the rear-view when I rolled the truck. I remember watching the tow truck flop it back over onto the street and Kevin walking by me. He gestured to the road and said "You might want to pick that up." It was laying at my feet.

And there it hangs to this day, helping keep me safe.