Because Love leaves a Marker
Marked by Memory was created to preserve roadside memorials and the lives they represent with dignity and care. These markers are built by families and friends who refuse to let someone be forgotten.
This project honors that love by documenting memorials and protecting their stories in one lasting place. It’s a preserved remembrance and a reminder to travel with care, because every life on the road is someone’s whole world.
The Light Permission
This project is a journey of faith and respect. When I approach a memorial, I do so with a quiet heart. Often, as I hold my camera, I see a play of light—a reflection or an “orb”—that I take as a gentle permission to document that space.
It is a sign to me that I am there to act as a witness to the love that remains. I am not there to call out mistakes or dwell on the circumstances of a loss.
I am there to show up for the family and for the person who is still deeply held in someone’s heart.
Focus on who they were
Each memorial is written in a personal voice, centered on their life, their spirit, and the love that surrounds them—not how they were lost.
A Digital Forever
This is a digital forever for your loved one—a place where their story and the love you carry can continue to live on.
Grace and Respect
Every memorial we document is approached with grace. We honor the family’s love and their legacy in everything we do
Founders Story
“My faith leads me — and this is a different way of doing it. I tell the stories that need to be told—because people need to hear them. Learn from them. So it doesn’t happen again. These lives mattered. Love showed up to leave a marker. And I want to document these roadside memorials with grace, dignity, and honor.
Part of me wants to be a silent witness. But I know I can’t—because the message of the cross needs to get to people.
To slow down. To know that life is precious. That tomorrow is not promised.
When families find me through the QR codes, they cry. They share that it meant so much that someone cared enough to show up. That’s why I do this. Because they showed up, every family, with their love, at the side of the road.
This is how I show up for them to tell their story and let their journey be remembered .”
— Dee Suomala, Founder
Notes from the Road
This project is a journey of faith and remembrance that takes me across the quiet stretches of the Southwest. I find interesting stories, joyful moments, and surprises in the most unexpected places.
Come along and join me as I document the lives, find the joy, and share a smile or two.
