A sad anniversary

Yesterday I had to take my mom to see her oncologist, and while we were waiting for her to be called back, I perused my news feed on my phone. One story stood out as I scrolled down. This was an account of a man in New Hampshire who had attempted to do the unthinkable on a bridge on interstate 95, complete with a photo of the man climbing precariously on the bridge structure. Luckily he was eventually saved from a plunge into oblivion. These news stories seem to come up randomly, as did the account of the woman who tried to make a similar lethal leap from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge a couple weeks ago but who was also rescued. I mentioned the article to my mom, and she said that to this day, she could not comprehend what drove the Key Bridge jumper to take his life.

That horrible incident happened around this time of the year, right before the holidays, almost thirty years ago. My mom vividly remembers the very day she heard the sad news, including where she was and what she was doing at the time. The Key Bridge jumper is gone from this world, as is the metal monster from which he flung himself. Even my videos I shot of me walking the Bay Bridge were triggering to my mom, though I had no idea they would be disturbing. I have never showed these to John for that very reason, and I probably won’t, as I do not want to trigger him. Sadly the Key Bridge will be forever infamous to those of us who had any connection to that death. Since its demise, it is clear that many people have fond memories of that structure being a fixture in their daily lives in one way or another. And also the many who miss it dearly. But for others, it will remain a hideous thing, splattered with the blood of many victims and now a crumbling monument to sorrow and death.

Now only the approach ramps and parts of the main piers remain, but soon those will also be just a dark memory soon. Another recent news story noted that the contractor hired to build the new bridge is actively filing for permits to begin work. First to demolish the remains of the old monster, and then to build the framework to create the new monster. Supposedly, a design plan for the new span will be made public early in the new year. But for now, Dr. Frankenstein and his minions toil in secret in their Nebraska lair. In that modern day urban castle engineers and designers are drawing up their plans for the next Key Bridge. The original Frankenstein tried to hide his monster away, but one day this towering steel and concrete behemoth will lord over the Patapsco River where its predecessor once stood. But there is one thing that will be lacking once this new span is built, and that is a dark and bloody past.