I think memorials can be a wonderful part of the grieving/healing process, but I wonder sometimes, if they ever have the opposite effect of people slowing down and trying to figure out who/what the memorial is for (if there's a name on it, for example), and then paying less attention to the road.

Just a tangent... a few weeks ago, my BF and I saw folks gathered on a corner on the opposite side of the road, constructing a memorial on the route my boyfriend bikes between his apartment and campus almost every day... it wasn't until a few days later when I was heading in the other direction that I saw that the memorial was for a cyclist... and this road is the route my BF bikes between his apartment and campus most days of the week. It really gave me pause.