Roadside Memorial

It is difficult to remember when I first began to see these roadside memorials appear. I guess perhaps ten years ago, which means probably they started twenty years ago! For those of you haven't seen them before, the memorials are liable to contain crosses, flowers, and photographs, among other things. The memorials are placed on the sides of roads where accidents have occurred, and where someone has died. I think they began with an increase in the Hispanic population on Long Island. This flag is from Brazil, however. I know nothing about the accident, and when it happened. But I was taken by the large photograph of the young man, and the flag of his country. There is a soccer ball signed by his friends, and rosary beads. It does seem important to me, that in addition to memorializing the terrible loss of a young man, that we are reminded how fragile life is, and how dangerous the roads can be.