Roadside Memorials and You

Let’s talk briefly about the roadside memorial. Well, I’ll write a few words about it, and you can read them. Then, if you’re not too lazy, you can reply in comment form and let me know what you think. If not, then feel free to throw your hands in the muthafukkin air. Then I’d like to ask you to at least consider waving them around like you just don’t care.

This is sad.Okay. So what is the point of the roadside memorial? And here’s what I mean by that: What is the point of the roadside memorial? You see, if I were to lose someone on the side of the road, or someone I knew were to die in a horrible tragic accident on a highway, I would be pretty saddened. But I don’t think I would feel compelled to decorate the place of their demise with flowers and headstones and whatnot. Seriously, why would you want to decorate and commemorate the place they died? I’m okay with putting those same flowers and trinkets on a grave site. That’s where their final remains lie eternally. Or until the lease is up on the site. :rolleyes:

That’s another thing I think is kind of bullshitty. You have to lease the grave sites, and I think they do it in mulitiples of 99 years. (Confirm / deny?) I’m not sure if 99 years is the max you can lease them, but I know I have heard that particular number when talking about cemeteries. Anyway, the point is, what the hell happened to an ‘eternal resting place’? What happened to ‘rest in peace’? If they’re going to dig you up in 99 years so they can reuse the space, what do they do with your remains? That’s not really letting you rest. screw that. No burial for me. Send my ass to the moon.

But the side of the road where someone dies is a source for violent, ugly memories. Why would you want to remember that above all memories – and furthermore, decorate it? That’s like honoring and respecting the place they died! Show some real respect and take those flowers to their grave! Or erect a memorial on the web or something, showcasing the greatness of their lives! Anything!

Well, despite what it looks like, I’m not upset about this. I just don’t get it. Someone please explain it to me. There was an accident on the highway up by where the Captain lives. A man had stopped to change his tire on his van and had his wife and 18-month-old daughter wait up by the railroad tracks. Where they would be safe. A passing truck lost a tire off its trailer and it rolled up onto the hill and hit that little girl. Took her head clean off. Most sickening thing I’ve ever heard. True story.

Anyway, for the longest time they had the most ornate, beautiful memorial setup beside the road. Every time I drove by, I got sick at my stomach, thinking, “what if that had been my little girl?” Even not ever having met her, it still breaks my heart. I don’t really want to be reminded of it every time I drive by there though. And I’d like to think the family can forget about the horror of that place and find some peace too. Fat chance, but keeping up a memorial means you have to continually return to the site. That’s worse than driving by. I would rather just move on.

Let me know your thoughts on this. Am I the only one who thinks this is just weird?

This Post Has 7 Comments

  1. steppy

    How sad. I would have to agree with you on this. Crazy shit. And leasing out grave sites, what a shitty thing. I think that I may just agree to be buried on the moon as well. :)

  2. I see these all the time but I never thought about it. I guess it makes sense, why would you want to remember where they died?

  3. Yeah it’s the same crap up on Mt. Everest. Every time I scale that MF I’ve got to crawl past fifty or sixty memorials to assholes that just couldn’t make it. Man I’d hate to be known for not quite doing something. They need to send them sherpas up there to clean that shit off.

  4. When I go, I don’t want a roadside memorial. I want someone to prop my ass up against a tree and pose me like I’m waving at passing cars. That way when people see me all rotted and stinky they can be all like, “hey, look at the dead guy, kids!” It would be funny.

  5. SahSah

    I realize this was written some time agao, but I just read it for the first time. I agree. It seems depressing. To return to a place where such horrors occurred. However, when I see one, it always inspires me to pray. To send up a prayer of thanksgiving for my fortunes and blessings and to pray for the life(lives) lost. I feel deeply for those families and cannot even begin to fathom how I might personally deal with such tragedy. But those memorials keep me grounded. They remind me to drive carefully, with more awareness and appreciation not only for the death machine I operate but for others who share the roadways. God bless all the lives lost and peace to those who feel the need to grasp for the connection to loved ones by revisiting the places of their deaths.

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