There's one on the highway between the town where I live and the town were dh works. It is to remember a disabled man who was shot and killed by state troopers in a case of mistaken identity. The man couldn't respond in the way the the troopers expected, and he was known to walk many miles and come home at night. This time, there was a bank robbery and the culprit vaguely matched the description of this man. Since he didn't respond appropriately, and put his hand in his pocket and wouldn't lie down, he was shot. It is a horrible story.

The memorial is updated periodically, and they even mow around it themselves, before the highway department does. I understand the need for those people to never forget, but to insist that we never forget is asking too much. Most people who drive by there don't know what the memorial is for, because it's just crosses and some flowers. We could all memorialize the tragic deaths of our loved ones in a public way, but that is what funerals are for.

That said, I would prefer that the people who put up memorials be allowed to come to the understanding in their own time that time does wash away memories, and the entire community doesn't have to be reminded. No one wants to be forgotten, but eventually we all are.

Karen