In article >,
"Michael \"Dog3\"" > wrote:


> I've always wondered why grieving people make a monument out of a tree or
> other type of spot on a street where a loved one died in a car accident.
> I will never forget the monument to a young woman that died on a winding
> road along the River Des Peres. Her alcohol level was more than twice the
> legal limit. She was very drunk, speeding and lost control of her car.
> She hit a tree and died. People kept putting flowers around that tree
> for months. I understand grief. I feel grief. I don't understand dragging
> it out for months on end.

It's not months, Michael, it's years. I've been camping at the same
place every summer for four years now. When I go out walking on the
road, I see the little collections of crosses and plastic flowers.
Sometimes the plow pushes them over the side. I can see the ones down
the hill, and the new ones by the side of the road.

I see them in other places around where I live, out in the country.
White crosses and plastic flowers. Sometimes I stop. The names are
often Spanish, and sometimes there is a date. Sometimes the white paint
is fresh.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA