Warm Tribute Online Memorial Articles

Can you immortalize a relationship? The answer is yes. Immortality goes beyond the physical and is perpetuated by the love we have for a person. We need to understand that our loved ones continue to live through our memories, actions, and hearts.

Sharing the memories of our loved ones who have passed away is like lighting of the torch. As long as each person continues to pass along their memories, the longer they will continue to exist in our world.

One of my main motivators for wanting to immortalize my brother, Eddie, through this site is so that I have a record for of him for my future family to refer back to and get a sense of who he was. In a sense, immortalizing him piece by piece with each person who is willing to take the time to read about him and our adventures.

I believe the love Eddie and I had for each other will transcend life itself. And I hope that everyone who creates a tribute for their loved one on this site feels the same way.

I have had multiple conversations with family and friends about why they don't post more memories of Eddie, notes to Eddie, or simply their thoughts on how it has effected their lives. It usually comes down to either I feel my memories of Eddie are special and that they prefer to keep it to themselves or simply because they want to make their posts to/of him "good".

The former explanation is a choice that I can respect because everyone mourns differently. Personally, I prefer to share as many of my experiences as possible so that others can regale in them as well. The latter explanation, though heart warming, because they feel their loved one deserves the best, should not prevent people from posting. As I touched on in my previous article, "Scriptures, Writings, and Poems About Losing A Loved One", I believe all of our loved ones who have passed away would prefer to have the most simplistic response from you than nothing at all.

However, for the perfectionists out there, I suggest doing the following to assist in helping them speak from the heart:

• Start with reading a memorial poem that conveys your feelings.


• Imagine you're writing their eulogy.


• Reminisce by looking through old photos.


• You don't have to create a post alone. Work with others who share your memories and write about a fantastic story you all experienced with your loved one.


• Imagine your loved one is in front of you right now. What do you want to say to them?


• It may sound boring, but talk about how your day went or what your family is doing.


• Just write a note to say "I love you."

Remember, online memorials are here to immortalize our loved one through memories and thoughts of them. No matter how poorly written you may think it comes out, the bottom line is that your loved one will appreciate and be happy that they are continually in our thoughts.

This topic has been floating in my mind for a while now. At first, I wanted to focus on how people can express their grief when they have experienced the loss of a loved one. However, I realized expressing grief is not always the emotion a person is trying to release. When you think of the person who has passed on, you shouldn't simply dwell on the present situation, but express and reminisce about the fond times you've had together as well.

Through my own experience, more often than not, the short period of time I take to remember the fond moments in my mind tend to follow with a short period of solemn silence as I come back to reality. I know this may sound depressing, but it's really not. It's interesting how the emotions of happiness and sadness can intertwine with one another leaving a person feeling satisfied. The reason I believe this is so is because 1) even a seemingly insignificant memory can bring a smile to your face, which uplifts your heart and 2) that solemn silence helps a person to take a small step towards coming to terms with the situation.

With all that said, the following are my suggestions on how to express your feelings after a loved one has passed away (in no particular order):

• Write or read a memorial poem that draws out the deep feelings contained within you.


• Look through old photos and paint a picture of one that brings you the most joy.


• Write or listen to a song that reminds you of your loved one.


• Get together with family and/or friends who share your loss and start reminiscing together.


• Visit their place of rest and speak out loud about whatever is going through your mind.


• Please comment and provide your suggestions as well...

Ultimately, the key is to do something constructive that will prevent you from bottling up all your emotions (both sadness and happiness and everything else in-between) and allow you to express your feelings steadily.

And as always, if you haven't already done so, you should create an online memorial for your loved one.

Creating an online memorial is a great way of giving tribute to a loved ones that have passed away. However, I understand that creating an online tribute may not be enough. I know when I think of what I have accomplished for my brother, it never feels like enough. However, it's not a feeling of remorse, it becomes more of a challenge and (in a way) empowerment that the possibilities of giving tribute to him is limitless.

I want to share with you all, some ideas I have come up with. Though I unfortunately have not had the time to accomplish all of these items, I believe it's still a good idea to have a running list, so here we go:

• Donate money to a foundation that helps cure the ailment that took your loved one away: My brother passed away from a combination of Ulcerative Colitis and Budd-Chiari. If I can somehow help a family or friend out there to prevent them from losing one of their loved ones then I am all for it.



• Start a foundation in the name of your loved one: If no foundation currently exists - create one and name it after your loved one. This is an idea I've had for a few years now, but I simply haven't had the time/money to start it. But if you have either, then I think this is a fantastic idea! I can just see the lit smile on my brother's face once I start one under his name and his response of "That's pretty cool!"



• Write a book: This subject of the book could revolve around a number of topics. Perhaps it's a biography of your loved one or the emotions of what you are going through that you feel would be helpful to share with others. It could even be a collection of your journal/memories that you've posted on this site.

On a slight digression, I truly hope, for all of the members who have created and contributed to a tribute for their loved ones that passed away, have found some solace here on Warm Tribute Online Memorials. As it is stated in the About Warm Tribute section of this site, one of my goals is to lend a helping hand to those who are working through their time of grief.

After your loved one has passed away, you will undoubtedly feel the emptiness left behind by their departure. What slowly and only partially fills in the emptiness is a variety of hope. One type of hope is that your thoughts and voice can transmit to them wherever they are now. Of course, some may think this is a strange (if not "crazy") notion, but for those who are going through the loss of a loved one, you know what I mean.

Sending messages to loved ones who have passed away is the idea behind the "Notes" category. It is meant to be a personal message between you and your loved one. The feeling of directing a communication to your loved one does strangely release a lot of grief. Though you can choose to internalize all your thoughts or even speak out loud to your loved one in private, I have found that typing a message (and perhaps saying it out loud as you type) to your loved one brings added comfort. It doesn't replace the fulfillment you would get from an actual dialogue with your loved one, but it is a decent alternative.

The main purpose for starting Warm Tribute Online Memorials was to provide a place to immortalize your loved ones with a collection of memories about them, so that they can live on in some form. However, another purpose of this site is to allow each of you an opportunity to express your feelings openly. Whether you make your posts public or private, it doesn't matter. The sheer action of releasing all those thoughts from your head, truly reduces the cloudiness and weight in your mind.

Whether, you create a tribute on Warm Tribute Online Memorials or another memorial site, please make sure you don't bottle everything up. Express your emotions through words. You'll never know if these messages will be heard by your loved one, but you have to try for them - isn't it worth it?