Melissa's Descanso

I drive past Melissa's descanso every workday as I travel home. I often notice her roadside memorial, wondering who she was. I am usually cruising by at 60 mph unable to pay proper attention to her descanso.

In the light of the setting sun today, I was moved to turn around to go back and visit Melissa's descanso. I parked a bit precariously near to the edge of the road on one side and a steep embankment on the other.

I am glad I did. Peace Melissa


ABOUT DESCANSOS
THE CUSTOM of marking the site of a death on the highway has deep roots in the Hispanic culture of the Southwest, where these memorials are often referred to as Descansos ("resting places").
Traditionally, Descansos were memorials erected at the places where the funeral procession paused to rest on the journey between the church and the cemetery. The association thus created between the road, the interrupted journey, and death as a destination, eventually found expression in the practice of similarly marking the location of fatal accidents on the highway.
Wikipedia