This roadside memorial is located just north of the First Baptist Church on John Young Parkway. Since it is close to the where the Caylee Marie Anthony memorial service was held, I began the sketch believing it must have been set up for her. The Mylar balloons were deflated and roses were dead indicating that this memorial had been set up for some time. While I was working, a large Ford Explorer SUV roared up onto the grass median between me and the tree. The African American woman inside was on her cell phone as she asked if I was sketching. I of course said yes and she related the information to whoever was on the phone. I asked her if she knew who the memorial was for and she shouted out a name which I could not hear over the sound of passing traffic. I had to ask two more times and finally approached her car door to catch the name. I would have asked here more questions but the tail end of her SUV was sticking out into the road and when I glanced over my shoulder I saw a line of cars backed up for a quarter mile. No one honked their horns, but she realized she had better get moving, and she drove off. The memorial is for James Marcus Johnson. I searched for information about him but could only find a short obituary that stated that he died on December 22, 2008 at the age of 22.
