Cruising in Memory of…

I’m not sure if this is an element of Virginia culture in particular—kinda like vanity license plates—or a broader national trend, but over the last eight years I’ve noticed a fair amount of people using their car windows as mobile memorials for dead loved ones. I find myself stopped behind one of these “in loving memory” decals fairly regularly. I’m forced to do the math, and it’s usually pretty depressing. They all seem to die so young, serving to remind of my luck so far, and how it can’t last. All I wanted to do is get through the red light in peace.

There are a ton of designs and possibilties to choose from, but I personally find the whole thing a bit less than reassuring. That’s why the only thing I put on my car is “Jesus is My Car Insurance.”

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9 Responses to Cruising in Memory of…

  1. Tim Owens says:

    This is definitely a Northen VA thing (at least Spotsylvania/Fredericksburg if not more north). I had seen these here and there in Hampton roads and Richmond, rarely ever in Farmville and other southern cities, but much much more frequently here enough to realize its a regional thing. Very weird.

    • Reverend says:

      So it is regional, I figured as much given I never saw one in Brooklyn or Long Island (not to mention LA), but at the same time did not want to assume. Weird, indeed šŸ˜‰

  2. Grant says:

    Get yourself a sweet Madonna
    Dressed in rhinestone
    Sittin’ on a pedestal of Abalone Shells

    Goin’ 90, I ain’t scared’y
    ‘Cause I got the Virgin Mary
    Assuring me that I won’t go to hell

  3. I’ve never seen that – but have seen those godawful stick-figure families, with the daddy stick-figure scratched off. #classy

  4. Reverend says:

    @D’Arcy,
    I always thought that was vandalism. Jesus, to imagine that as intentional is more than mordbid.

    • Jesus is your navigator.

      I’m assuming the scratched-stick-figures are a product of a broken home, rather than something moreā€¦ sinisterā€¦ Haven’t seen any of the smaller figures scratched out, anyway.

  5. Reverend says:

    D’Arcy,
    I think TIm had the whole nuclear family stick figures on one of his cars, and student razor bladed off the dad’s head. True story.

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