Marking Significant Anniversaries

After cremation services in Phoenix, AZ, intense grief over the death of your loved one will take center stage in your life for the days, weeks, and months to come. Even though the intensity of grief becomes more moderate as time passes, it’s still a neverending part of your life after you lose someone you love.

Anniversaries of all kinds can be extremely hard to deal with because that you are reminded all over again about the death of your loved one and the loss and grief you’ve experienced because of that.

The anniversary might be a wedding anniversary, a birthday, a parent’s holiday, another holiday that was special in your family, or the date that your loved one died. You may feel a surge of grief and longing when any of these anniversaries come up. That is normal.

However, there are ways that you can transform what could be grief-filled days into opportunities to further heal by having meaningful acknowledgements of your loved one and your loss.

One way that you can mark a significant anniversary is to simply spend time with your loved one. If, after they were cremated, your loved one was buried in a cemetery plot, stored in a columbarium, buried in an urn garden, or their cremation remains were made into jewelry, then go be with or wear your loved one and spend some quality time with them.

Another way that you can remember a significant anniversary is to create a memorial for your loved one. You can, for instance, create a memorial blog and use anniversaries to talk about your loved one. You can explain why each anniversary is important to you and why it was important to your loved one.

Being able to write about your loved one and the significant anniversaries that were special to you and them is a great way for you to express grief, sorrow, and loss. It also gives you the ability to remember good times, good memories, and what you loved – and miss – most about the person you lost.

If you don’t feel that you can adequately express your feelings about your loved one in writing, then find another creative way that you enjoy to remember them. You might create a slideshow or a movie with music and pictures of your loved one. You can select music that fits your mood, that you and your loved one enjoyed together, or that expresses your feelings about your love one. Create a free channel on YouTube, upload the video, and share it with family and friends.

A third way that you can remember significant anniversaries is to host a small group of family members and friends to remember your loved one. Have each person bring food and drinks to share so that you don’t have to spend a lot of time getting ready for the gathering. Laugh. Cry. Smile. Remember.

It is normal if you find that you need alone time on significant anniversaries. Get outside and take a long walk or go to a park. If there are mountains or wooded paths nearby, take a long solitary walk or bike ride.

Wherever you go, it should be a place that is peaceful for you and will give you some time to sort through what you are thinking and feeling.

A final way that you can remember a significant anniversary is to go through the things you kept from your loved one’s life. These may be photo albums, family heirlooms, recipe cards or books, or cards and letters they wrote. You may find that going through these familiar things is very comforting.

If you want to know about cremation services in Phoenix, AZ, our compassionate and experienced staff at Simply Cremations & Funeral Arrangements can help.