Private Memories in Public Places

The roadside memorials that dot our highways and city streets are a recent addition
to the landscape.  Although the practice of building these memorials was introduced
by the Spaniards when they first settled New Mexico, it has evolved into a folk art that
is not limited to a particular ethnicity or region. 

Most of us barely notice them as we drive along, but these memorials have become
an integral part of the national landscape.  Perhaps we don't notice them because they
have become so common that they no longer arrest our attention.  And perhaps it's
because they often fit so naturally into the landscape.

As I look at these monuments, I am struck by the obvious care, time and work that
went into their creation.  They are intended to be permanent and to be visited again
and again.  The compelling question to me is why the survivors need to memorialize
the place the person died.  Some have suggested a belief that the soul still hovers
at the sight.  But I believe it's because the death was so sudden, violent and
unexpected.  Perhaps the survivors want to remember that life stopped right here.

I see the monuments as something primarily joyful and celebratory; they are more
about honoring a life than mourning a death.  Their care and beauty are evidence
of the love the person aroused in their families and friends.