Whenever we lose someone close to us, we often have that rush of fear that washes over us. What if you forget the person as the years go by? With every year that passes, their memory might fade, and the sound of their voice or all the things you remember them for, become harder to recollect.
While time can typically make a lot of your memories fade, there are ways to preserve the memories of your loved ones so that you can enjoy them in the future. This is not just for your future, but for the younger generations of the family who knew them or might know of them when family members talk fondly about them.
There are many ways in which you can remember your loved ones and ensure their memories live on forever. Here are just a few ways to help remember those who have passed for future generations to come.
Look through and save previous video footage
For the last few decades or so, video footage has long been captured whether it be through hand-held video recorders to the smartphones we now have available.
When you lose a loved one, it’s always worthwhile going through all of your old footage, whether be saved on your phone or on a floppy disc - if you know what one of those is.
Sifting through video footage is a great way to collect all of the memories that would otherwise have been forgotten about. That’s why it’s good to collate everything together and perhaps load it all into an online space like the cloud so that you have it all within an easy and accessible reach, should you want to look back and reflect on your loved ones at any point.
Sharing experiences with others
When you’re looking to preserve the memory of all your loved ones while they’re still alive, it’s good to have shared experiences together. The more memories you can share together, the more you’ll have to look back on.
These shared experiences should be something you work hard to have even when there’s no sign of illness in sight. Don’t forget to record those memories where you can too, as this can help remember them when your mind starts to struggle to retain the information.
When you create shared experiences, you have more opportunities to reflect and relive those memories with those who are still alive in the future.
Reflect on the memories regularly for mental wellbeing
One of the hardest things to do when it comes to losing a loved one is the grieving process itself. You learn to live with the grief, rather than it disappearing completely.
It can be particularly hard to look at certain belongings or memories at any given time during the loss of your loved one. That’s why it’s important to take the time and only look when you’re ready to do so. When you’re ready to do so, it’s worth taking a look at the memories because it can provide you with psychological benefits.
The nostalgia and fulfillment that you can often get from looking over previous memories is worthwhile for the benefit of your mental well-being, so do more of it where you can.
Keep a journal
Journals are a great way to keep your loved one’s memories alive, especially as our minds can only retain so much information over our lifetime.
A journal can act as a great way of recording memories so that you don’t have to worry so much about retaining the information in your head. It’s nice to sometimes go back and see what happened during different times of your life, whether it’s in your early twenties to your late sixties.
You can simply write a brief note in the journal or input a larger paragraph if the day has been particularly exciting. Either way, it makes for a great keeper of your memories.
Create a memory box of trinkets and sentimental items
A memory box is a great addition to preserving the memories of loved ones. There are plenty of lasting tributes that you can create once they’ve departed from this earth. For example, if you want to keep a physical part of them with you, it could be that you make a piece of jewelry from their fingerprint. A piece of jewelry from Memorials.com is worth considering, for example.
Memory boxes are helpful when you’re trying to keep everything in one place, especially when it comes to sentimental items and those that tend to be a little bulky or small that could otherwise get lost.
Label and update files and memories where required
To help keep everything in good order and an order that’s easy enough to distinguish, you may want to look at labeling and updating files so that your memories stay organized.
It doesn’t take long to label and update files but if you leave them unnamed, that can often lead to having hundreds or thousands of photos, videos, and other files all clumped together. The more you can organize the memories, even arranging folders by month or year where possible, it’ll help make it easy enough to go through as and when needed.
Update regularly: Keep your files up to date
Keeping your files updated is an important one, so you’ll want to ensure these are regularly updated to keep organized.
This not only helps you to ensure you can access all your loved one’s memories but it does the same for when you pass. Your loved ones are going to want as much in the way of updated files to go through carefully, so make sure you’re being proactive in keeping your life’s memories in a functional and updated space.
Preserving memories is important for any family. Therefore, it’s useful to make sure you do everything to create memories while you’re still living and to preserve them for a lifetime after the person or persons have passed away.