All over the world, people have many traditions of memorialising and honouring those that they love.

Beyond traditional mourning, it is healthy to focus on ways to feel connected to our loved ones that include the memories of time spent with them over the years. More often than not, your memories involve laughter, fun, and kindness—all are things that can be incorporated into memorialising those who have crossed over. 

 Here are a few ideas:

1. Commission their portrait from a renowned artist.
2. Write down memories of your loved one, collect stories from others, and put them in a memory jar.
3. Have a teddy bear, pillow, or memorial quilt made from their clothing.
4. Adopt a local park in their name and help to maintain it.
5. Observe a special day of remembrance each year on the anniversary of their death.
6. Feed the birds in their memory.
7. Complete what they were unable to. Finish something that meant a great deal to your loved one.
8. Have a comic book artist create a custom comic book to tell the story of their life in comic-book form.
9. Frame something they’ve written such as a poem or a recipe and turn it into an heirloom. 
10. Keep something of theirs with you. 
11. Create jewellery with their handwriting, ashes, or hair
12. Wear memorial jewellery such as a ring, bracelet, or necklace.
13. Donate bibles or other holy books in their memory.
14. Put together and give out homeless care kits in their memory.
15. Light a candle in their memory (consider reserving a special candle which you light specifically for your loved one; either every day, or once a week, or on special occasions, etc).
16. Save them a seat at special gatherings and events.
17. Hike out to their favourite wilderness spot and build a cairn (stack of stones).
18. Set up a garden stone in their memory.
19. Transform a current garden into a remembrance garden. 
20. Call in to your local radio show and have their favourite song played each year on the anniversary of their death.
21. Consider putting a treasured letter or another handwritten item in a special frame and remember your loved one whenever you pass by it. 
22. Write their biography.
23. Start a scholarship fund or charitable organisation named after them.
24. Donate, in their name, to a cause or charity that was close to their heart.
25. Sponsor a bench or brick at one of their favourite places.
26. Have a tree planted in their memory to help restore fire-devastated areas.
27. Wear something that belonged to your loved one.
28. Create a memorial space in your home with photos, candles, and special mementoes. 
29. Put together photos, stories, and clippings in a memorial scrapbook.  
30. Live a life of worthiness.  
31. Write a poem or song, or create art (sculpture, painting, woodworking, etc).
32. Donate blood in their memory.
33. Continue their legacy of volunteering or giving back to the community.
34. Orchestrate a butterfly release.