White crosses

stand as lonely reminders along the roads of Montana. There is one on the lawn by the county courthouse, one with the initials "JMK" by some mailboxes I pass going into Kalispell, one along the road near a steep embankment, where an elderly woman lost control of her car, went down the embankment and was found several days later by a woman walking her dog. There are places with several white crosses on a single pole. Today, I saw one that had "Luke" written on it. Some have fresh, plastic flowers, others have sun faded plastic flowers, most have no flowers at all.

They are stark, subtle, silent memorials to people whose lives were lost in traffic accidents. Lately, I have been seeing white crosses along the road, where they didn't used to be.

The White Cross program in Montana is not a government program. No, instead it is a program sponsored by the Montana American Legion. The local legion posts erect and maintain these sobering reminders to drive safe, be careful, life is fragile.