Denial, anger, and sorrow are just some of the heavy emotions you’ll be dealing with when a loved one passes away. With tremendous grief weighing you down, how will it be possible to celebrate their memory and legacy? And with funeral preparations and legal documents to take care of, your grief will be coupled with stress, so doing anything to honor your departed loved one’s memory seems like the last thing you’ll think about.
Take your time to heal and let funeral organizers do the difficult tasks for you. From selecting coffins to carving out beautiful headstones, funeral homes in West Valley and other areas will arrange those for you. Through an elegant casket and headstone, you’re already honoring their memory.
Once you find your strength again, celebrate the life that your departed loved one had lived because their legacy deserves to live on. Here are different ways to honor them:
1. Support Their Advocacy
If your departed loved one had advocacy they actively pushed for, reach out to the group they had worked with, and organize an event in memory of your loved one. Support their organizations by giving donations or holding volunteer activities. Get to know the people your departed loved one had spent time with the most, and talk about their amazing contributions. If your loved one wasn’t involved in any particular organization, you may find a group that’s related to their profession or passion, and then plan an activity that will honor your loved one’s memory.
2. Gather Photos and Videos of Them
The beauty of photos and videos is that we can have them forever, so treasure the ones of your beloved departed’s, and compile them all into a physical album or a digital one. This is especially good for widows or widowers with young children who may not be able to remember their deceased parents. Showing them photos and videos of their departed parent will keep them alive in their memories when they grow up.
3. Get Creative
A good way to comfort yourself and honor their memory is to put your creativity into work. You may light up some fireworks or lanterns on their birthday, create a portrait of them, or turn their things into something you can use as well, like stitching all their old shirts together to make a quilt. Pour out your emotions by getting creative so you can produce something beautiful out of your loss.
4. Host a Dinner
If your deceased loved one was a family member, gather the rest of your family and relatives for a night, and host a memorial dinner. You can also invite your friends, especially if they’ve been close to your family as well. If it’s a friend that has passed away, do the same activity to honor their memory. It’s important to surround yourself with supportive people who share your loss or at least understand it, during this difficult time. Your departed loved one will surely be happy if you spend time with the ones who had been close to them.
5. Visit Their Resting Place Regularly
Make it a tradition to visit their graveside during their birthdays, death anniversary, and other special occasions. You may also visit them simply because you just feel like it. They may no longer be with you physically, but being in their final resting place will give you comfort and assurance that they’ll be watching over you. Talk to them about how your life has been, just like how you did in the old times.
Let’s honor the memory of our departed loved ones by keeping them alive in our hearts, and expressing our love for them endlessly. We can heal with more joy by dwelling in happy memories and remembering the life they had shared with us.
