10 Ways To Honour A Deceased Loved One

The grieving process after a great loss can be hard to overcome and deal with. It’s difficult to know how to carry on living without the presence of a loved one, but you can help celebrate and honour their treasured life by keeping their memory alive with a selection of thoughtful tributes. By creating a memorial to the one you miss you can keep their life significant in a number of beautiful ways.

Read their favourite book

By learning more and understanding further interests of a person after their death, you can feel increasingly connected to them. To go beyond just reading their favourite stories, you can create a miniature bookshelf corner in your home where people can go to feel close to them by reading the books that they loved.

Create a scrapbook or photo album of their life

By creating a memory book, you can reminisce on some of your most precious memories and share the creation with others. Making a scrapbook is a therapeutic method of dealing with your bereavement and honouring the life of the one that deserves to be remembered in a special way.

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For tips on creating the perfect memorial book, use photos, letters, cards, poems, quotes, stories and lyrics from their favourite songs. A simple photo album can be equally as lovely, special photos produced in a timeline is a great way to remember your loved one with special thoughts. Remember, this can be created digitally or physically depending on how many people you’d like to share your loving conception with.

Frame something that they’ve written or produced

By framing something they’ve created you will always be reminded of their contribution to the world and to your life. You’ll allow their memory to live on through your home and showcase the sort of person they were.

Plant a tree or flower in honour of their life

Growing something new out of their death is producing something fresh out of the world they’ve left behind. This could be in a garden, allotment or simply in one of their favourite spots. The tree, plant or flower will symbolise the fact that your loved one lives on and can be a representation and celebration of their life.

Frame their portrait

Grief is best dealt with if feelings are not pushed aside. By framing a special photograph you are honouring a time and keeping their memory alive. A lovely framed picture will allow you to keep the person forever in your thoughts and will also help others to understand the relationship you had. This will be a beautiful yet simple profile of your loved one. If you didn’t want to get an actual photograph framed, you could get in touch with an artist to sketch from a photograph.

Use something that they’ve given you

Whether it’s sleeping in your sister’s clothes or wearing your grandfather’s old wrist watch, using something that belonged to the person you miss is a way to help you feel closer to them and as though you’re keeping their favourite possessions living on.

Regularly light a candle or write them a letter

It may sound simple, but lighting a candle every now and then and taking 15 minutes silence to just think about what they meant to you is a great way to honour your deceased loved one. Do this alone or with others who wish to celebrate their life. Just because somebody is gone, their presence doesn’t have to be forgotten.

Alternatively, writing a letter to your loved one is an excellent way to communicate things you perhaps feel were left unsaid. You may have just entered a new career, got married or you’re feeling down and would like more than anything to talk to them. Type or handwrite your piece and read it aloud to them, tell them how you’re feeling and how you miss them – it could be a weight off your shoulders to feel as though they may be listening.

Purchase a memorial plaque

There are a range of memorial plaques that you can acquire of a range of prices. Whether you’d like to honour their memory with a bench or a simple cross, a personal engraved plaque helps their name and legacy to live on forever more. Speak to your funeral directors and they should be able to advise you further.

Create a memory quilt from their clothing

If you’re struggling to clear out a loved one’s closet, creating something original and comforting by de-cluttering their wardrobe and producing a memory quilt. is a simple yet beautiful way to honour the person you are grieving for. You can comfort yourself with everlasting memories. Use T-Shirts, photos, ties and even hats.

Light paper lanterns and set off fireworks annually

Remember your loved one in the best way possible by organising a particular day annually where you and others can get together and remember them by celebrating their life with paper lanterns and fireworks. This could be a birthday or anniversary. You can write personal messages on the paper lanterns and watch them float captivatingly away into the sky. This is a great way to deal with emotions and to feel grateful for the time on earth you had together.

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