The Cross on the Hill

So, Let me tell you a little bit about this Cross. When I first moved here I used to dislike this cross, it was an eyesore.  Over the years I have associated it with home, and it has become a part of my sense of place.  A while back, just before COVID, someone ripped it up and threw it over the fence onto the hillside.  It was somewhat distressing for me as you can imagine.  When the Santa Ana county maintenance workers came out to trim and fertilize the hillside, I asked one of the guys to hand me the now broken cross.  Lonnie and I have kept it in our backyard with the intention of repairing it and returning it to its home on the hillside. As you can see, my wonderful husband, did just that today.  I have the feels about it being restored to its home.  I love my thoughtful husband.

A little backstory for those that may be asking themselves, why is the cross there in the first place.  Quite a few years ago, before I lived here, the story goes, that this guy was driving his truck up on Santa Clara and was either drunk or fell asleep at the wheel.  Whether drunk or falling asleep the result was the same, he drove off the road, his truck rolled down the hill, and exploded. One person who lived here at the time says that the whole apartment complex shook from the explosion.  This brought a lot of people out to see what had happened.  A few brave souls tried in vain to get the guy out of the truck, to no avail, it was just too hot from the flames.  As seems to be the custom, his family, I believe put the cross up there to memorialize him. I’m going to be checking back issues of the Orange County Register to see if there were any news articles about the event at the time. If I find anything, I will add them to this posting.  Thank you sweetheart for restoring the memorial of someone tragically lost as well as a little piece of our shared life journey.