While driving the other day, I saw an all white bike on the side of the road.
I turned looking left, while stopped at a red light and saw that the bike was painted all white.
It had been carefully set and placed in the ground with a name and a birth and death date.
I began to believe that the bike was a memorial to a person who probably was riding at that very spot and suddenly was hit and succumbed to their injuries.
It was what they call a roadside memorial.
These narratives of a quick and untimely death pop up everywhere on the roadsides in America and beyond.
America’s highways were built for us to drive everywhere.
A car is a must to get to work, school, and vacations.
Cheaper then a flight and in more control then a train, a full tank of gas can you plenty of places.
Roads are busy with many...including bicycles.
Cars are driven by people.
People make mistakes and accidents happen.
Some accidents become fatal and for families the public display of grief can be a cathartic part of healing.
This has been a topic of contention for those that believe public property shouldn’t be used for private matters.
In terms of church vs state issues, some feel public displays can be a nuisance and all around dangerous adornments
that are said to distract drivers.
I would imagine if I was someone who had to provide an answer of no to a grieving widow or mother, it would be difficult.
In terms of death, there can be a fixed assumption that we should grieve in a perfect box, like during a funeral or while we visit the gravesite.
Some need that and others need more.
The placement of objects like a cross or a photo or a bike shows not only cessation but the life of the individual.
Flowers are cathartic for the conscience- stricken.
Where is the proper place to grieve?
Grief is organic.
If we are truly a drop in a large ocean, why can’t we have floating adornments to those we have loved?
Roadside graves are marked narratives.
There will always be traffic and there will always be grief.