Wednesday, October 28, 2015

The makeshift memorial

Years ago, the Complete and Total Loser failed at journalism. During his last year in the field he worked for a large news agency. The writers shared a common space and the Loser, a lowly, middle-aged assistant, sat within earshot of all of them. One day, they discussed how tired they were of the phrase "makeshift memorial," which refers to commemorations of those who die in a specific place by somehow adorning the place. They were stymied, however, when it came to thinking of an alternative phrase that described such sites as well and succinctly and, apparently, other writers are too. 
makeshift memorial
A makeshift memorial at the location of a teenage boy's suicide.
The phrase remains.
The photo here is of one such site and was taken where a teenage boy who had nothing but a bright future killed himself earlier this month by jumping off a small bridge onto a road where he was hit by a truck. It features flowers, a copy of the program from the boy's funeral service, and a letter from his older brother to the boy. The letter is written as if the boy will read it and mentions that the flowers were the best ones Wegmans had available. 

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