You’ve been through the initial shock and the funeral has passed. Now you are left with memories of the person, and a sense of grief that won’t disappear right away. One of the most productive things we can do as part of the grieving process is to honor somebody’s wishes.
When we honor someone after they’ve gone, we are holding a candle to their memory, but we’re also tying up loose ends in a way. When it comes to honoring somebody’s wishes after they’ve gone, what are the best ways to do this?
Dedicate an Action or an Event to Their Memory
Sometimes, we can do something to honor their memory based on the circumstances of their death. For example, there are many people who go on charity walks and runs which they dedicate to the memory of someone they’ve lost. Many people work to raise awareness of certain diseases and illnesses that have taken the life of someone they love. But you can also do this in other waves.
Something like redemption is one of those practices that can take a lot of effort, but you may feel that you should do something to honor their memory, especially if they met their demise through circumstances that could have been avoided. Unfortunately, there’s a high incidence of wrongful death, and you could find your local wrongful death lawyers and take action against the institution that was responsible. Dedicating an action or event to their memory is a lot of work, but it’s something that you have to decide that you are able to follow through.
Keep Something of Theirs With You
If you are honoring someone, one of the best ways to do it is to carry them with you wherever you go. This is why many people have personalized lockets with a photo of the person so they carry them wherever they go. But there are other ways to do this, for example, having a poem dedicated to them in your wallet or purse.
You could get more creative and make an item of jewelry with something they owned, or even using the ashes to create bespoke jewelry is a very unique way to honor someone’s wishes. It’s a very personal thing, and only you can decide how to best do this. When you carry them around with you, it can feel comforting, because they are always there, and it’s a wonderful way to keep that bond.
Finish What They Couldn’t
If you lost someone who was in the middle of a creative opus or they had a goal in life to complete an antique collection, you could take the mantle. Doing this can be a wonderful way to honor their sense of purpose. If they felt they had a duty in life to complete something, honoring their memory in this respect highlights the impact they made on the world. It can be a significant challenge that you have to remember that when you are in these situations doing something like this will be a shock to the system, especially if it doesn’t come naturally to you. However, it’s a wonderful way to give a gift to the dearly departed.
Live a Worthy Life
If you find yourself at a loss after someone’s death or the circumstances made you think really hard about your own life, one of the best ways to honor someone after they’ve gone is to live a life of worthiness. Whether it’s your grandparents who embodied certain values that you didn’t understand when you were younger but now can comprehend, or learning the best ways to work on your mental health because the circumstances of their death involved a number of mental health issues.
One of the best ways we can honor someone’s wishes is through the life we lead. Sometimes, when we lose someone so important like a grandparent, we feel like we want to honor their wishes in some way, but this shouldn’t be to the detriment of our own lives. We have to live our own lives, but we can honor their wishes in some small way, perhaps through the ethics they embodied, or certain life choices, living a worthy life is one of the best ways that we can honor anybody, not least of all ourselves.
The death of someone we care about is an extremely visceral experience. When we try to honor someone’s wishes after they’ve gone, there can be a lot of loose ends to tie up, and whether we want to seek redemption, or even do something as simple as planting a tree, or just putting their ashes in the right place, there are many ways to honor their wishes.