Sad Commute

I was late for class this morning, so I didn't take the Sligo Creek Trail (I've been meaning to blog about the Trail for a while, so look for that later). I took my bike on the roads.

I came upon the corner of Arliss and Piney Branch in Silver Spring, in front of the Eastern Carryout. I saw a bunch of people standing together in the parking lot around a pile of stuff. There were five or six men there, standing and looking at the pile. I was at a red light (crazy, a biker stopping for a red light, I know), so I could look in some detail.

The pile was mainly white stuff. Paper cups. A white teddy bear. White plastic bags. And a helium balloon. It looked like a kid's store or a party store had gone out of business and was selling the remnants in the parking lot.

Then I put it together. White teddy bear. Kid's stuff. I edged closer to the stop line and saw a sign that said RIP.

What happened? VH? in a parking lot? Was this the anniversary of someone's kid's death? I wanted to know what had happened, but the light turned green and I went on.