Rou

I've been told I'm cold and heartless. It's not true, but I don't generally argue it. I accept that I have a slightly skewed view of certain things.

For example, Zombie altars. My girlfriend dubbed them that, and I think the name is very fitting. You’ve probably seen them on the side of the road. John Smith gets killed in a car accident, and a grieving wife, father or brother or someone sets up a little shrine at the site to commemorate his life. They put up a cross. A plaque. Some flowers. Stuffed bear. Maybe a photo. Sometimes this little zombie altar hangs around for two or three years. In rare cases, it passes the decade mark.

I don’t get it. Well, that’s not entirely true. I understand the need to grieve and mourn. I can even vaguely understand the desire to put flowers or something at the site of the accident. What I don’t get are the people that erect crosses, small mangers, and elaborate signs and tend them year after year like it was some sort of gravesite.

John’s dead. As a person, you must mourn his loss. But you seriously need to move on with your life. It’s not healthy to come back every other week and do upkeep on a small patch of the highway where he died.

Or of course, there are the mobile altars. They get some company to etch the glass, or create a sticker for the back window of their car. Usually reads exactly like a gravestone.

“Bob Tindel June 1 1971 – June 1 2002 beloved brother, son and all around great guy”

Another case of people needing to let go. It’s not healthy to see a constant reminder of your loved one in your rear view mirror, k? Once again, these little mobile altars can be seen years and years after the actual death.

At some point, someone needs to take these people aside and try to shake life and death into them. Their loved ones are gone. Remember them, sure. But there comes a point where mourning goes WAY WAY past healthy release. It becomes obsession.