Published:

07/03/2015 12:10am

Memorial Ideas - Making Memories Last

Memorial ideas to help you make memories last will aid in grief healing. You can't know why some things happen, but you can know that love and beautiful memories can outlast the pain of grief. And you can know that there's a place inside the heart where love lives always and where nothing beautiful can be forgotten.
How can you continue to connect to the place in your heart where love always lives?
Pay tribute to your loved one through a ceremony. This can be as easy as saying a prayer before Christmas dinner, lighting a candle in memory of the deceased or releasing balloons to the heavens.
A ceremony can aid your healing, whether it is held once a year or every month. The ceremony can consist of a few people or many. The purpose, however, will always be the same - to help you honor and pay respect to your loved one's life. Plus, you will receive additional love and support from others in a ceremony.
If you did not have a memorial ceremony for your loved one, consider having one now.
TIP: Give a set of tea light candles to other family members and invite them to join you in a moment of remembrance from where they live, whether for a holiday, birthday, or anniversary of loss. Include a special poem or a few carefully chosen words that can be said, when the candles are lit. Knowing others are paying tribute to your loved one at the same time can bring comfort.
Consider a Tribute Verse. Another way to pay tribute to your loved one is to publish (at a cost) a memorial verse in a local newspaper. This can be done at any time that feels comforting, such as a milestone date-your loved one's birthday, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas or other significant occasion.
Typically a verse will be placed near the obituary section of the newspaper. Consider writing a short poem or choosing a meaningful quote from a book or gift item. Or ask a friend or family to help you with the selection.
Choose one of your favorite photos of your loved one to accompany the verse.
A memorial verse can be as simple as:
Forever Loved, Forever Remembered
Photo of Loved One
Name of Loved One
Our Father, Son, Brother and Friend
Give yourself enough time to choose or carefully write the verse. After publication, clip the memorial verse for your scrapbook or and make laminated copies for other family members. Acknowledge yourself for the public action of affirming what your loved one means to you.
Time cannot steal the treasure that we carry in our hearts, nor ever dim the shining thought our cherished past imparts, for memories of the one we love still cast a gentle glow to grace our days and light our paths wherever we may go.
Chelsea Hanson, grief educator and life coach, guides heart-based women through the transformative process of grief to make their life and work matter in honor of those they love. For her FREE mini-class, The Art of Life - Create a Meaningful and Joyous Life You Love, visit http://www.ChelseaHanson.com. For her FREE guide, What to Say and Not Say at Time of Loss, visit http://www.WithSympathyGifts.com. This article was originally published at http://withsympathygifts.com/blog/griefsupport/memorial-ideas-making-memories-last/ and has been syndicated with permission.