One of the most painful events that everyone goes through in life is losing a loved one. Especially if their death was untimely and unexpected, the pain can be almost unbearable. Throughout the mourning process, it’s natural for you to feel powerless and defeated. But one way to help you get through the grief and slowly accept the reality of your loved one’s passing is by honouring their life and the good things they did while they’re still alive.
Arranging creative memorials is a positive way of working out your grief. Through this, not only can you slowly process the pain of loss, but you can also find comfort and meaning as you reminisce about their life and remember the good days they had. Most importantly, honouring your loved ones who have passed away will help keep their memories alive in your mind and heart, even if they’re not around anymore.
Now that you know the essence of honouring your departed loved ones, you may be wondering how you can do that in a meaningful and memorable way. Here are five meaningful ways you can give tribute to those who have passed away:
- Write A Death Notice
One common but still meaningful way of honouring a departed loved one is writing a death notice and dedicating a whole page of the obituary section in their memory. This will help notify all the people graced and touched by the presence of your loved one while they were still alive. Moreover, this is also a perfect platform for you to highlight and feature their contributions to the community, achievements, and other volunteer work that has positively changed other people’s lives.
If you’ve never written a death notice for a loved one before, you can always look up an online guide to help you write one. Then, don’t forget to let other people proofread your work before having it published in a printed or digital newspaper.
- Advocate For A Cause
If your departed loved one has supported an important cause while they were still alive, it’s a good idea that you continue their advocacy for that cause as a way to honour their memory. Alternatively, you can also start advocating for a cause that’s related to your loved one’s cause of death, such as raising awareness for a certain health illness or the prevention of violence.
- Plant A Living Reminder
Another significant way to honour your loved one’s departure is by planting a living reminder, such as flowers, a tree, or even creating a whole garden dedicated to them. If that person used to love dandelions or roses while they were alive, you can dedicate an entire garden of dandelions or roses in honour of their memory.
It’s also a good idea to plant a few trees in their memory. As long as those trees grow, their memory and legacy will surely live on for a long time. You can also label your garden or the tree with a small board and let the trees or the flowers remind you of your loved one every time you see them blossom and grow.
- Do A Tribute Donation
In honour of your loved one’s memory, you can make it a tradition to give a tribute donation to your chosen hospital or charity every year or during the death anniversary of your loved one. For instance, if your loved one was confined to a specific hospital during his last living days, you can donate to that hospital every year.
If not a hospital, you can donate to charities that your loved one used to support. Not only are you paying tribute to their memory, but you’re also able to do good and help other people in need.
- Create A Scholarship
Creating a scholarship in their memory may seem complicated at first, but it’s actually not too difficult. Especially if your departed loved one was a particularly strong advocate of the importance of education, this option might be ideal for you.
You can establish an educational scholarship for the school that your departed loved on attended before. Alternatively, you can also choose to send someone to school and volunteer to pay for all their school fees. You can ensure that this will create a lasting impact on the community and, most importantly, the student in need.
Wrap Up
Doing meaningful ways to honour your departed loved one will help you deal with the pain and achieve inner peace and acceptance of their death. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, as long as it can keep their memory alive. Aside from these tips, don’t hesitate to ask for help from your family or relatives for their mental or emotional support during these trying times. Together, you can combine your efforts towards memorializing their legacy while helping each other heal from the loss of a loved one.
