As the name suggests, a memorial service is organized in order to memorialize a deceased. Thus, it is a great way to pay a tribute to the departed loved one and commemorate a life well lived.
Memorial services are often considered as the same as funerals, but there is a difference between the two. More often than not, memorial services are arranged for deceased individuals when the human remains are not present or are unbearable to see.
You can remember your beloved pet dog, cat, rabbit, turtle, hamster, ferret, canary, etc. by a charming memorial.
Thus, you may choose from a variety of pet memorial products. In case you want to comfort a dear friend dealing with pet loss, consider giving him or her a sympathy gift.
Most memorial items can be engraved with a short message or quote and personalized with the deceased pet’s photo. Besides, you can incorporate a number of ideas to commemorate the life of your special companion.
Organizing a memorial service for your pet gives you the opportunity to cherish and honor the life of your beloved companion.
It helps in the healing process, thereby helping you cope with the grief of losing a dear pet by giving you the opportunity to say a final good-bye.
When planning such a memorial service you can take help from a local pet funeral home. However, it is not necessary to take the services of a pet funeral home, as you can make the arrangements yourself, too. In fact, some cities do not even have funeral homes for pets.
Beautiful quotes, sayings, and proverbs can help a great deal in getting over the grief of losing a loved one and memorializing the departed soul. In addition, you can use famous quotes, Bible verses, etc. on memorial headstones.
Besides, you may also compose a poem or eulogy yourself and get it engraved on the tombstone. Here are a few interesting quotes for you to consider:
“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 Worthington Raymond
Dealing with the loss of a dear friend is extremely painful. After all, friendship is a great source of hope, strength, and joy. Moreover, your best friend is likely to be the most honest critique you can have.
Hence, it is imperative to find ways to honor and remember the life of your friend in a special way. Here are a few ideas to help you with this task:
A memorial headstone, also referred to as a tombstone or grave marker, is a monument inscribed with the name, date of birth, and date of death of a deceased.
It may also include a few words about the departed loved one, his or her achievements, inspirational quotes, prayers, Bible verses, etc.
“In the night of death, hope sees a star, and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing.”
- Robert Ingersoll
A funeral service is quite similar to a memorial service. Thus, some people prefer to have either of the two instead of both in order to save time as well as money. Both the events are meant to honor and remember the life of a deceased loved one.
However, unlike memorial services, funerals also involve funeral prayers and committal. So, they are more formal and traditional as compared to memorials. Plus, a funeral is likely to be more expensive.
The term memorial is derived from a Latin word ‘memos’ meaning mindful. Thus, memorials are meant to commemorate the life of a deceased loved one and keep the memories alive.
Memorial Day, for instance, is observed to remember and honor those who have died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.
“…Grieve not, nor speak of me with tears, but laugh and talk of me as if I were beside you… I loved you so – ’twas Heaven here with you.”
Isla Paschal Richardson
The price of a memorial headstone or grave marker depends upon a number of factors like the material, color, quality, size, style, lettering, finish, etc.
The most popular material for memorials is granite because it is sturdy, easy to carve, and available in a variety of colors.
The memorial can be made in the form of an elegant monument or simply as a flat grave marker engraved with the deceased’s name and dates or birth and death.
Raised headstones, for instance, may cost $500 to $2,000. The average cost of a gravestone is about $1,500. Nevertheless, you can find can grave markers priced as low as $500 or as high as $7,000.
A memorial service commemorates the life of a departed loved one in a gathering of family and friends. Unlike most funerals, it is held after the burial or cremation of the body. Hence, the body is not present during this ceremony. It may be held in the presence of cremated ashes, though.
Besides, in case of renowned personalities or tragic events, it can be held as a public ceremony for memorializing the deceased individual or the event characterized by mass deaths.
Ideally, memorial services last for about one to two hours. However, there is no particular duration and schedule for a memorial service.
As the name suggests, a memorial is meant to memorialize a departed loved one. In earlier times, memorials were particularly used for eminent personalities as a tribute to honor their legendry deeds and contribution to the society. They were usually in the form of gravestones, monuments, fountains, or even parks.
There are also memorials for historic events. The Lincoln Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Statue of Liberty, Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial, Fallen Astronaut, National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Laboe Naval Memorial, Elvis Presley’s Graceland, West Hartlepool War Memorial, Strawberry Fields, Egyptian Pyramids, and Taj Mahal are some of the most popular memorials in the world.
“Mourning is one of the most profound human experiences that it is possible to have… The deep capacity to weep for the loss of a loved one and to continue to treasure the memory of that loss is one of our noblest human traits.”
- Shneidman
