Memorabilia and Treasures | Memories are Forever

Memorabilia and Treasures

Throughout our lives, we collect many things – some bring us joy, some are gifts that remind us of the love of someone close, and some remind us of the joyful experiences we’ve had in the past. Those “things” can be comforting reminders to us of those we have loved and lost.

There will undoubtedly be many things that your loved one has collected throughout the years that have been very important to them. Here are a few ways you can preserve the memories behind these items for those around you.

Take photographs of those items that had special meanings for your loved one. Put the pictures on paper and write out the stories of why those things were special, how they were acquired, what they meant, etc. If you have a digital camera or a scanner, you could use a word processing program to layout the photographs and then type up the stories.

Create a “special spot” to put items that were special or things that remind you of them – favorite photographs, journals, her collectibles, etc.

Put together a Memory Box with items that remind you of some of the special stories and memories you have with your loved one.

Create a Memory Quilt using t-shirts, fabrics, photographs, or other items that were special to your loved one. There are a businesses that can do it for you if you don’t have the sewing experience such as Connie’s Corner.

An article no longer online, titled Read Remembrance of Things Past, shared this message: “We can’t keep everything, to be sure, but some physical objects help us connect with previous generations. That we cherish them shows that we care.”

Related Books:

Chicken Soup for the Grieving Soul: Stories About Life, Death and Overcoming the Loss of a Loved One

This collection of inspirational stories will undoubtedly touch many hearts. Written by authors who have lost loved ones, these stories offer comfort, peace and understanding to those going through the grieving process.

“The Mother Box,” the last story in this book, addresses the importance of these treasures in our journey through grief.

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Quotes

Give sorrow words;
the grief that does not speak
Whispers the o'er-fraught heart
and bids it break. — William Shakespeare, in Macbeth, Act IV, Scene III

What the heart has once known, it shall never forget. — Author unknown

In one of the stars, I shall be living.
In one of them, I shall be laughing.
And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing when you look at the sky at night. — Antoine de Saint-Exupery, from The Little Prince

When a once painful reminder evokes a gentle laugh, when we recognize the joy of the present in an image from the past, we have arrived at an important moment. Those memories are being transformed, unmistakably, into messages of hope. — Molly Fumia, in Safe Passage

He who has gone, so we but cherish his memory, abides with us, more potent, nay, more present than the living man. — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

While both joy and sorrow are fleeting, and often intertwined, love has the power to overcome both. And love can last forever. — Deb Fulton, in "The Power of Love" from A Second Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul

Let the joy of your loved one's life begin to take the place of the hurt and anger of the death. — Darcie D. Sims, Grief Inc.

To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die. — Thomas Campbell

Recall as often as you wish; a happy memory never wears out. — Libbie Fudim

Life is eternal; and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight. — Rossiter W. Raymond

If I am to wear this mourning cloak, let it be made of the fabric of love, woven by the fine thread of memory. — Molly Fumia, in Safe Passage

Photographs are precious memories . . . the visual evidence of place and time and relationships . . . ritual talismans for the treasure chest of the heart. — Robert Fulghum, in From Beginning to End

Memory is a passion no less powerful or pervasive than love. What does it mean to remember? It is to live in more than one world, to prevent the past from fading and to call upon the future to illuminate it. — Elie Wiesel, in All Rivers Run to the Sea: Memoirs

We do not know the true value of our moments until they have undergone the test of memory. — Georges Duhamel

Perhaps they are not stars in the sky, but rather openings where our loved ones shine down to let us know they are happy. — Eskimo Legend

The heart hath its own memory, like the mind. And in it are enshrined
the precious keepsakes, into which is wrought the giver's loving thought. — H.W. Longfellow

Grieve not, nor speak of me with tears, but laugh and talk of me as if I were beside you there. — Isla Paschal Richardson

I have only slipped away into the next room, I am I and you are you. Whatever we were to each other, that we still are. Call me by my old familiar name. Speak to me in the easy way which you always used.... Play, smile, think of me.... All is well. — Henry Scott Holland

In love longing
I listen to the monk's bell.
I will never forget you
even for an interval
Short as those between the bell notes. — Izumi Shikibu

Remembering the past makes hoping for the future possible. — Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D., Center for Loss