Monuments

Laura and Ted are enjoying a dysfunctional marriage in Boulder, Colorado: teaching at the university, drinking at the local tiki bar, and (barely) tolerating Laura’s odd family and odder would-be-suitor, Howl. After a brief estrangement, they are now back together, determined to make it work. When Laura is killed in a car accident, Ted is paralyzed with grief. Unable to let her go, he carries her ashes under his arm and starts seeing her everywhere. Aided by Howl, Laura’s family takes matters into their own hands by stealing the ashes, and heading to the family resting plot to say their goodbyes. At the same time, Ted is suddenly face to face with Laura’s ghost. She explains to Ted his mission: steal her ashes back, head east, and scatter them where they first fell in love, Ted steals Laura's ashes and Howl's truck and heads out on a cross-country road trip with the family and Howl in hot pursuit. Along their odyssey, Ted and Laura's ghost encounter characters that seduce, annoy, hurt, and sidetrack Ted from his mission. There’s Amber, the mysterious seductress; a trio of singing wood-nymphs; a directionless car mechanic, the only security guard at The Field Museum who matters, and Laura’s bratty little sister, Crystal.