Creating a Lasting Memorial

Lasting Memorial

Before you begin creating the memorial, take a few moments and consider your goals and how mourners typically view obituaries. While an obituary is published in a newspaper for a day or two, many mourners clip the obituary, saving it for posterity. These clippings yellow with age, but are cherished nonetheless. Consider the longevity of the memorial that you are about to create. During the first few days, the memorial will receive many visits with visits tapering off as time goes by. Now remember those yellow clippings. Mourners will want to return many times over, perhaps each year on the anniversary of your loved one’s death. With this in mind, create a lasting memorial. by Celeste Stewart

A lasting memorial is one that visitors will return to in the years to come. Though your loved one has passed, you will find that the river of memories will continue to flow. Update the memorial Web page along the way and view new entries left in the guestbook.

Initially, you may want to post the funeral service details, such as time, location, and directions on the main page. Once the service has come and gone, log back in and update the online memorial. For example, you might say, “Thomas’s memorial service took place on March 4, 2009 at La Jolla Cove where family and friends gathered in remembrance of his short, but fruitful life.” From there, you could add additional details. Other mourners can then return to the online memorial and view these special memories.

At least once per year, perhaps on your loved one’s birthday or anniversary of death, update the virtual memorial. E-mail a link to the virtual memorial to others and encourage everyone to enjoy a memory or two and a moment of silence in honor of your loved one.

If your loved one had a favorite charity, consider an annual charity event such as a charity golf tournament or walk in honor of the deceased. Include a link to the online memorial in related correspondence such as press releases, invitations, and flyers. Charity events do not need to be elaborate, either. In fact, it may be just you and a handful of close friends gathering for a game of poker – with the pot going to your loved one’s favorite cause. Update the virtual memorial with the details of each event. As the years pass, the online memorial continues to grow. It becomes a connection with a cherished spirit who has left the earth, but not our hearts.

While you and other mourners will visit the Web page online, you may want to print the pages or have them compiled into a hardcover book. If you’ve created the online memorial on behalf of another survivor, having the memorial pages professionally bound into a book makes for a thoughtful gift that will be cherished for years to come.

Benefits of Riverofmemories.com

Many memorial Web sites exist where you can create a virtual memorial, so why choose Riverofmemories.com? Riverofmemories.com offers several key benefits, the first of which is it is easy! Online memorials are often made in the days immediately following the death of a loved one. During this turbulent time, the last thing you need is a difficult Web site. Ease of use is critical. Wouldn’t you rather be memorializing your loved one rather than trying to figure out how to navigate a complicated user interface? Riverofmemories.com understands this and is designed with ease of use in mind. Sign-up is fast, free, and easy. Within moments, you will be actively creating a virtual memorial.

Creating the online memorial is similar to creating a blog. Simply select from a variety of themes, choose the modules (such as biography, obituary, photo gallery, journal, favorites, donate, and timeline), and begin posting your thoughts, memories, and photos. The features offered on Riverofmemories.com give you all of the tools you need to express the essence of your loved one.

With pre-designed templates, you can rest easy knowing that the final page will be tasteful and look professional. Instead of worrying about page layouts, fonts, and borders, you will spend your time creating the content that truly honors your loved one and touches the hearts of family members and friends.

Riverofmemories.com offers both private and public online memorials. If you want to keep the memorial between a close-knit group of friends and family members, without worrying about privacy, you have an option to restrict viewership to people of your own choosing. On the other hand, if you want the virtual memorial to be discoverable via search engines or will be posting a link in alumni newsletters, a public online memorial may be the better choice. Either way, the choice is yours to make. 

Creating an online memorial on Riverofmemories.com is free. The free virtual memorial is hosted at no charge for a full fourteen days. For those who want to create a lasting memorial, a nominal monthly sponsorship fee makes this possible with no additional fees beyond the sponsorship charge.

Dealing with the death of a loved one is life’s greatest sorrow. Give yourself time to grieve your loss and then celebrate life by creating an online memorial. Not only does doing so involve you in one last project with your dearly departed, it also connects you with others whose lives were touched by this very special person.