The million-dollar question is; how do you remember a loved one who has passed away? Well, many people and cultures around the world have their way of remembering that special person in their life but no longer with them. Below are a few notable ways people remember the loved ones they have lost.

I) Creating Anniversary Celebrations (Dan and his wife’s story and Margaret’s story)

Dan and Crystal (his wife) lost their daughter a day after she was born. To remember her, they have created a day where they visit the cemetery with the whole family to celebrate her. They go to the cemetery with a basket of picnic lunches and a complete set of balloons and a picnic lunch, and the family picnic happens right there in the cemetery. 

This family has maintained this tradition for over 9 years now. Dan says, “we maintain this tradition not only to remember her and remind the other children about their sister but as a way to remind ourselves that we will have a lovely reunion on the other side someday.”

According to Margaret’s story, her way of remembering her husband is to visit the gravesite as many times as possible. She visits her husband’s grave on his birthday, wedding date, memorial day, anniversary, Halloween, and even Christmas. These are just, but a few times, she must visit his resting place. For their 60th wedding anniversary, Margaret decided to hold a special easel wreath to remember and represent their lives together. She did this with 3 red roses to represent their 3 children, 60 white roses to represent their 60th anniversary, 8 yellow roses to represent their 8 grandchildren, and 9 peach roses to represent their 9 great-grandchildren.

II)         Picture Displays (Ashley and her husband’s story)

Ashley and Patrick (her husband) lost their 18-month-old daughter 10 years ago after a tragic accident. One way the family has decided to celebrate and remember Preslee (the daughter), is by having something representing her in each of their family photos. For example, in the latest photo of their second-born daughter called Oaklee, she is holding a Gerber Daisy as a way to remember and represent Preslee. Ashley said, “I remember when Preslee was a baby, the big flower bows were in style, and we always say the large Geber Daisy flowers remind us of her.”

How you display the pictures are up to you. Some like to use photos in frames. They can be good but they take up space. A photo book is another way of displaying photos. You can fill photo books full of pictures of your loved ones. They can also make good displays that other people can flick through too. You can curate your photo books to display the exact photos that mean the most to you. You can get picture books in all different sizes too to ensure they’re fit for purpose.

Pictures are truly a popular way many families remember their loved ones. Today and in the past, people framed pictures of their loved ones in their family photos as a way to remember them. Some people incorporate their loved ones ashes into art, click here for more information.  Another popular method is creating an ancestor wall with mounted pictures of ancestors and loved ones who have passed away.

III)        Ancestor Bash (my story)

In my family, we hold ancestor parties. Ancestor parties give us the opportunity to share details of our ancestors and the life they lived in a fun way for the young kids to know them and remember them. Our family’s initial ancestor birthday party was for Grandpa Cole, who was a coal miner. As such, we use lamps and hard hats as decorations. We also buy different kinds of his preferred treats. Because of this, my niece noted that his preferred cola was R.C. Cola. To her, that was humorous because the initial for R.C. stands for Robert Cole.

Other activities that we participate in at our family’s ancestor parties include learning new skills they were particularly good at, their favorite games, or simply watching old family video films.

Other Remembering Your Loved One Ideas Include:

•           Using the clothing left behind by a loved one to create a quilt

•           Painting a tree as a way to remember a loved one

•           Planting a commemorative tree 

•           Vacation at their favorite spot

•           Create jewelry with a loved one’s writing etched on it

•           Donating to their preferred charity

•           Making a memory jar by writing short memories about them

•           Add your loved one life story to the FamilySearch Memories

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.