7 Ways To Keep Your Loved-One’s Memories Alive
Most people fear that keeping memories alive for their departed loved ones is very difficult especially with the passing of time. They worry that after many years, a disconnection will inevitably happen between them and their dearly departed. That may probably occur, if they will not endeavor to keep those memories in their minds. You don’t need to worry that this will happen in your case because there are many ways to keep your loved-one’s memories alive.
Your memory is activated by specific sounds, smells and sights. There are times when you suddenly recall something that happened years ago just because you heard a certain sound or song, or smelled a certain scent or have seen a familiar sight. These are some of the things that can bring back the memories of your departed loved one when you least expect it. In this regard, here are some of the ways to sustain the memories of your departed loved one in your mind.
- Make a video collage of your dearly departed.
We are already in the digital age where everything can be digitalized for convenience. Perhaps you have videos of your loved ones stashed somewhere in a video cam or a smartphone. Why not gather all these videos and collate them into one video collection? There are freeware video apps that can easily join all these videos. You can organize these videos in various ways to emphasize the life or achievements of your loved one in a chronological way or in any manner that you want. Once you have joined these video clips, you now have something that will help you effectively recall what your loved one has done when he or she was still alive.
- Gather all the pictures of your loved one into several albums or one complete album.
Apart from the video collection, you must have a host of pictures of your dearly departed, from his or her childhood days down to his or her last few days on earth. Those pictures are your complete resource for making photo albums. Once you have organized these albums, you can use them to refresh your mind about the life and times of your dearly departed.
- Make a family recipe book
Now, we are targeting your sense of taste and smell. Another way to keep the memories of your loved one alive is to gather all your unique family recipes into a book. Family bonding or any kind of bonding for that matter is effectively made on the dining table. That means eating is the best way we bond with our family and friends. Certainly, your loved one has his or her favorite food unique to your family. You can surely remember the dishes that your family has shared with your dearly departed when he or she was still alive. Creating a collection and sharing it with your family is an effective way of sustaining the memory of your departed loved one.
- Continue celebrating the person’s birthday.
If you will keep the person’s birthday even if he or she is no longer alive will help you retain the person’s memory. You don’t need to throw a big party but just a sort of commemoration of his birthday complete with food, birthday cake or ice cream. Have your intimate family members or close friends in the gathering to share your memories with the dearly departed.
- Plant a tree in memory of the person.
This is one of the best ways you can retain the memory of your loved one. If the sapling is cared for regularly, it will blossom into a full-blown tree in a matter of years. When it is already a strong tree, it will be hard for you to forget your loved one.
- Visit the person’s graveyard regularly.
Visiting the person’s graveyard at certain times during the year will keep the memory of your loved one alive. It is also honoring the dead if you pay them a visit regularly.
Even if you are not that well-off, you can designate a certain charity in the name of your dearly departed. An alternative is to endow a scholarship at the person’s alma mater and then donate a certain amount to it on a yearly basis.
