Losing a loved one is never easy. A part of you and your family is gone, and all you want is to have them with you for longer. That is why many people are opting out of traditional funeral burials and looking for alternatives that are not only cheaper but feel more personal.
The most popular option is cremation, but there are plenty of interesting ways to feel like your loved one is still around and a part of your home. These are some ways to make your loved one feel part of your home eternally.
Custom Urns
As mentioned, the most popular way to feel connected to your deceased loved one at home is through cremation. The crematory offers urns for you to choose from but sometimes you might want something that feels more personal and feels closer to what your loved one would have wanted with tasteful designs, custom messages, and other personalized features. Urns are a great way to honor your loved one and have them remain a part of your life in your home because they take up such little space and work well as a decorative piece. Custom urns are a good way to maintain the preservation of your loved one but offer more than the typical urns offered by funeral services.
Cremation Jewelry
Another personalized way to keep your loved one around for a long time is with cremation jewelry. Similar to an urn the cremated ashes are stored in an urn but can be turned into specialized jewelry to keep them in your memory around the home for a long time to come. From rings, necklaces, wrist bands, and more, there is an option for everyone. You can customize what kind of metal you want to use and how to adorn it with jewels so the customization is pretty endless. This is another unique way to keep the memory of your loved one alive and can be passed down through the generations as you get older.
Planting a Tree
Planting a tree outside your home can be another personalized way to honor your deceased loved one. This process usually involves a biodegradable urn that is planted into the ground and allows for the ashes (mixed with seeds and soil) to grow into a full-blown tree. Giving back to nature is a way to keep your loved one around and provide something special to honor them. You can even plant the ashes in with regular soil and tree seeds to grow a tree by yourself of any kind. This could be the option you and your family are looking for in creating a beautiful, long-lasting memorial for your loved one. You can even carve their name in it or decorate the tree as you see fit to turn it into a memorial site.
Hosting a Celebration Annually
Instead of a traditional funeral, which some people find is not a good way to mourn a loss of life, you can hold a celebration of life or party annually at your home. Sharing stories and enjoying their memory, rather than grieving offers a therapeutic way to come to terms with a loss, celebrate your time spent with them, and enjoy the company of family and friends that knew them best. It is also a useful option because they are cheaper than funeral expenses, which can rack up tens of thousands of dollars. Making this an annual tradition is an excellent way to keep everyone together and enjoy time spent with loved ones and keep their memory alive while making more.
Memorial Shrine
If you want to keep something dedicated to them in or outside the home then a shrine or memorial installment is another possibility. You can build a garden in the backyard and create a water fountain feature, or set up something indoors that can be safe from the elements, or even a small flower arrangement and a portrait. There is a lot of flexibility when it comes to creating a memorial shrine in the home and depends on how big or small you want it to be. Include letters and other keepsakes as well to make it feel like something that represents who they are.
Remembering the loss of loved ones takes a tough emotional toll on us, but it is important that we never lose their memory. Many people are moving away from burials in cemeteries because they feel less personal. These options are some ways to make the loss of a loved one feel more personal, highlight their memory rather than the loss of life, and provide a keepsake or other part of the home where you will never forget them.