Posted on 09/27/2010 9:50:57 AM PDT by PA BOOKEND
Is anyone else tired of all the elaborate roadside memorials? I believe the whole thing has gotten completely out of hand. Years ago I said we would soon being seeing regulation tombstones in place of homemade crosses, etc. Well, last week it happened. I didn't stop to see if it was engraved (or whatever the process of writing on a tombstone is called), but I'll bet it was. Enough, already. That's what cemetaries are for! Obviously, it has nothing to do with the deceased; it's all about the survivors. I guess the problem with confining such remembrances to a cemetary is that one loses the "see me, notice me, look at me" - the exhibitionism that has infested our culture. I say, 30 days of mementos and that's it. That's what I say.
There is a curving roadway between the high country and my home in the Valley (in AZ). Taking it, I was already nervous. Moreso, when I saw at least then roadside memorials. I mentioned this to my husband who said, “There were more than that.”
Oops! That should have been ten, not then.
Or - you could make the glass ornament out of the ash. I have one. It’s made from Helen’s ashes.
.
.
.
.
.
Mt. Saint Helen.
“
Is anyone else tired of all the elaborate roadside memorials?
“
Respectively disagree (in most cases).
Here in Columbia, MO, roadside memorials marked the roadside on
which a city cop was gunned down by thugs. (Now marked by a memorial plaque.)
And the site on which a mother was killed (murdered) by a jerk of a driver.
And I recall seeing plenty of roadside crosses during a family trip
through Montana (on the way to Alberta).
It surely taught me to NOT “drink and drive”. And to be d-mned careful
when driving on two-lane highways.
E.g., going into the ditch (if there was one) if some idiot (drunk or otherwise)
poses an clear impact potential.
LOL!!!
One thing I noticed when moving to OK....was the occasional cross or plastic flower along the roads here.
Didn't bother me...and doesn't now.
Your post is sweet and heartfelt......I agree with you.
Better yet, have your ashes pressed into a vinyl record.. The only question is what album. I'm thinking Greatest Christmas Songs of Perry Como.
Did we give NM away or something? I missed that memo...
I don’t imagine you’ll really have that much control over what happens after you die, will you?
Creepy, but perhaps a good reminder that you're safer in an SUV.
They are nothing more than A moron died here signs.
Near an intersection of two roads where I used to turn frequently there was a simple white cross that was planted in the edge of someone's yard. It was unobtrusive and a lot of people probably didn't even notice it or know what it was about. I knew that a teenage girl was run down there by a driver on drugs. Sometimes flowers were placed by the cross and this went on for years. I respected the owner of the property for not ripping it down.
I dudes I see driving these ‘memorials’ have the tats and gear that I associate with ‘gangbanger’.
I could well be wrong, but I give them a width berth anyway.
I have seen the roadside messes from local school chums of the recently departed. Sad indeed.

They take up space and are a distraction to drivers!
******************************************************
the same can be said about trees and flowerws. Want to get rid of them too?
well, this ain’t New Mexico, FRiend. this is America!
**************************************
Speechless.
A homeowner in my area was trying to sell their house but unfortunately had a roadside memorial set up on one of their trees (3 died) with teddy bears, plastic flowers and the like.
Tried to take it down and many people were outraged.
How to drag down property values even more.....
Geez, doesen't any body have standards around here anymore?
But for real: If only I could go back in time and put a "/s" after all of my posts, perhaps you'd all be less perturbed.
I am fully aware the New Mexico is part of the United States. Please, no more private replies pointing out my ignorance. I get enough of those anyway, every day.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.