Ways to Mark Significant Anniversaries

After Burtonsville, MD cremations, loss and grief will walk hand-in-hand at the forefront of your life in the days, weeks, and months to come. Although the intensity of grief lessens as time passes, it’s still a constant part of your life after you lose someone you love.  

Anniversaries of all sorts can be particularly difficult to deal with, because that is when the loss comes back in full force. The anniversary might be a birthday, Mother’s or Father’s Day, a holiday that was special to your family, or the day your loved one died. However, there are ways to turn what may be grief-filled days into opportunities for healing through meaningful acknowledgements of your loved one and your loss.  

One way to mark significant anniversaries is to be with your loved one. If, after cremation, your loved one was buried in a cemetery plot, stored in a columbarium, buried in an urn garden, or the cremains were made into jewelry or scatter, then go to or wear your loved one and spend time with them.   

Another way to mark significant anniversaries is to create a memorial. If you are a writer, set up a blog and use anniversaries to talk about your loved one and why those anniversaries are important to you and were important to them. Writing can be very cathartic and it can give you an outlet to express grief, sorrow, and loss, as well as a venue to remember the good times, the good memories, and what you loved most about the person you lost.  

If writing’s not your thing, then create a slideshow or a movie with music and pictures of your loved one. Choose music that fits your mood, or that you both liked, or that captures sentiments about your love one. Create a free channel on YouTube, upload the video, and share it with family and friends.  

A third way to mark significant anniversaries is to host a gathering of family and friends to remember your loved one. Make it easy on yourself by having everyone bring food and drinks. Sit down and share stories and memories. Laugh. Cry. Smile. Remember.  

You may need some quiet time on significant anniversaries. That’s okay. Take some time to be alone with your feelings. Go outside and take a long walk or go to a park and walk through wooded paths or go to the beach (if you’re lucky enough to be close to a beach) and walk the beach and listen to the constant ebb and flow of the waves as the go back and forth on the shore. Just find some place that gives you peace and spend some time alone there to process your thoughts and feelings.  

A final way that you can mark significant anniversaries is to go through the things you kept from your loved one’s life. That may mean photo albums, family heirlooms, recipe cards or books, or cards and letters they wrote. Going through these familiar things can be very comforting and can help you remember your loved one is a very positive way.  

If you’d like other significant anniversary strategies after Burtonsville, MD cremations, you can speak with our experienced staff at Donald V. Borgwardt Funeral Home, P.A. You can visit our funeral home at 4400 Powder Mill Rd., Beltsville, MD, 20705, or you can call us today at (301) 937-1707.