8 ways to remember a friend who passed

Life throws us a lot of curveballs as we go through it, but the biggest one that it throws at us is death. It shouldn’t be a shock, should it? We all know that the one certainty is that if we are born, we will die. We don’t know when exactly it will happen, or how, and we don’t have any clue when things are going to take a turn. The one thing that we do know is that when we do die, we leave behind friends and family who are going to mourn us and remember us. A big part of our dying is their grief, and when your friend dies, you go through that grief in your own way.

Most friendships are solid once you’re into adulthood, and so when you lose a friend you want to do all that you can to remember them. An artistic engraving with marijuana urns is one way to honor them in style and keep their memory alive.

Memories are important, and while we do all we can to get through a grieving process for our friends, we have the choice as to how we go about doing it. With this in mind, I’ve put together a few ways to honor your friend after they have passed.

1. Keep something of theirs

Have you ever borrowed clothes from your friend? When someone dies, most of their stuff goes to family and the charity shops that could use extras for those in need.

You can choose to turn their band shirts or hoodies into a cushion or a throw to keep with you. Losing a friend is hard, and you can talk to their family about keeping something of theirs.

Or, maybe you want to keep the rims of their car for your vehicle so that they are always with you on a drive that way. Keeping something they once had allows you to feel close to them.

2. Support a cause of theirs

If your best friend had a love of cats and supported a pet organization in life, continuing to support that same place in the light of their death is going to be a meaningful way to commemorate their life. It doesn’t even have to be a specific charity, of course.

If your friend was passionate about the environment, for example, then you could take over that role and remember them by leading a cleanup at a local park. It’s the things that they did for other people and the world as a whole that will have touched your heart, and you can ensure that you are continuing that legacy.

3. Start a charity

Some people choose to set up charities in the name of their friend who died. So, if your friend had an illness that contributed to their passing, donating to a cause that relates to their illness is a meaningful way to remember them. It can help you to help those who are not yet gone.

4. Create a memorial

Their family may keep the urn with their ashes within it, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t do something to remember them for yourself. If you and your friend used to have cocktails, create one that reminds you of them and makes you smile while making it.

Or, if you loved to chill out together watching the stars, go through the process of naming a star after them. These small gestures can help you to feel close to your loved one, and that’s part of what really matters in life.

5. Begin a new tradition

When you create traditions, you create new ways to remember someone. If your buddy loved to go to the same beach every year, make it a tradition to do the same and use that location as your space to remember them.

If they wore funny socks on purpose, do the same to remember them and their little quirks. Traditions are born in families, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t create some of your own based on the things that brought your friend joy.

You could even create traditions surrounding the day that they passed away, such as planting a tree or another plant every single anniversary. Eventually, you’re going to have plants that are exactly a year apart in age but all there to remind you that your friend was also once a living, breathing, and vital piece of the earth.

6. Keep photos up

It’s tempting to box up all the photographs that you two had together. Sometimes it can be too hard to see those images.

Hiding the pics away doesn’t bury their memories, but it can make you feel as if you have put them away, not to be thought about. Photographs can make you smile, sparking memories of the good times and helping you through your grief. Photos help you to remember that they were once a person who held your hand and made you feel happy.

7. Keep on living

It’s hard, isn’t it? To keep living when someone close to you has died simply makes you feel as if you are betraying them – you should surely be grieving forever?

The thing is, life has a nasty habit of moving on even when you’re not ready to, and you need to get yourself ready to move forward as much as possible. Live the very best life that you can, because they won’t be able to.

8. Talk to people

One of the best ways to remember someone is to keep their memory alive with conversation. You can combine any and all of these to ensure that your friend is forever remembered, and whatever it is that brings you joy, they will always be remembered by you.

A few more words

It’s not easy to lose a friend, and it’s not easy to decide how you want to remember them. With the tips above, they will forever be immortalized and you can keep moving forward knowing that you have always got their life in the forefront of your mind.