The Odometer

A meditation on last times, lost family, and the redemptive power of going back

The Saint Phalle crest - “Cruce Deo, Gladio Regi Jungor” — My cross binds me to God, my sword to the king. He wanted to mark the turnings. He wanted to know what was underneath them.

My father had a quiet fascination with thresholds.

He’d watch the odometer in whatever car he was driving the way he watched his beloved thoroughbred horse races — with genui…