Roadside memorials

I'm drawn to roadside memorials -- hastily assembled tributes to people who have died in a traffic accident nearby. This one is particularly tragic. Two friends, celebrating a birthday, end up driving the wrong way on I-494 near the botched Wakota Bridge project. It's not known whether alcohol was involved, though that isn't stopping anyone from guessing, and , in some cases, injecting a "serves 'em right" mentality, which adds a dose of obscenity to the tragedy .

Someone named "Tim" assembled the memorial at a stop sign at the bottom of Hardman Ave., one possible spot the girls -- Charitie Foss and Brittany Stowman -- might've taken the wrong turn.

Perhaps, Brittany goes by Sarah, judging by comments from a friend on the Pioneer Press Web site (Above link, but you really don't want to read the comments. Trust me on this.)

A TCF bank gift card and an apparent prom picture adorn the cross. But the picture is torn.

"We all love you," Tim scrawled.

Whenever I see one of these memorials, I'm curious as to what the back story is. You can tell which ones are relatively recent, but occasionally I'll see a cross or something on the side of the road. Did that accident occur last week, or fifteen years ago?

I should have listened to you re. the Topix comments, Bob. Looks like the most egregiously offending comments have been wiped out.