Rental Car
It turns out they let you drive almost anywhere in the world as long as you have a $20 AAA international driving permit in your possession. He had feared the roads of Italy, the driving style there that matched the people: loud, lose, hands flying, exuberant, unstructured living. He’s seen it in every Italian movie. The travel agent was getting exasperated with him, insisting that yes, Europe had a fantastic public transportation system, and yes, the train network reached almost every town, but he would be missing out on so much by not renting a car in that region.
It was too much courage required, the trip alone, his leaving the US, was ginormous without any other layers of complexity. He had no experience navigating challenges or thinking on his feet, his wife used to do all that for the both of them. For decades. Forever. He had no idea until she died. He felt abandoned in so many ways. He felt like a child again, a bit bewildered by his surroundings. As though everything was not fully in focus yet, his eyes still adjusting. Literally. He went as far as making an appointment with his ophthalmologist to check for deteriorating vision sure he needed a new prescription but Dr Apady just beamed at him, even touched his shoulder like a comrade, and assured him everything was honky dory and boy he just saved himself at least $200 for new glasses. Put it in your piggy bank for that holiday.
What holiday? What was he on about? What did Dr A even know about him? He stifled a moment of paranoid panic, unsettled, and now suddenly sweaty. Later he called his daughter in Boston and told her but she just laughed and said kindly without a trace of cynicism or belittlement “Oh dad, it’s just a saying. Most people save for some kind of holiday. He may say this five times a day to his patients who don’t need new prescriptions. He didn’t mean you specifically”.
That remark stung somehow. What did she mean by “he didn’t mean you” like in no snowball chance in hell scenario could this be about him.
A holiday he thought. Where would I even go on a holiday if I were the kind of man considering a holiday. Italy. It came to him in less than a second. He knew. He had always known. But it seemed too late now. In so many ways. Not just was his body no longer really his but Elsie was gone and he had never been anywhere without her. He had never packed a suitcase, never chosen what clothes to bring. Italy.
The radio in the small tidy kitchen played a song with the lyrics “it’s now or never”. An involuntary gasp escaped his mouth. It was ridiculous to think of these occurrences as signs but here he was. Alert. His senses were so awake he thought he might burst. He did not know any travel agents if there even were any now with the internet and all. But he had been an AAA member for all of his life and they for sure still had a travel department. The rest, as they say, was history.