After a long serious illness or suddenly and unexpectedly?
We often only realize how valuable a person is to us when that person is no longer there. As long as he lives among us in the best of health, we take it for granted that he is present. He is part of our family, our friends or our circle of relatives and acquaintances. We see each other more or less often, maintain an intensive or not so intensive relationship, know much or little about each other. But we know each other. We spend time together privately, visit each other, go on vacation together, celebrate together. Or this person is a colleague at work or in a club with whom we have no other private contact. But he or she belongs to our circle of acquaintances.
When we learn that this person suffers from an incurable disease, has died of it, or was torn from life without warning, then the grief and pain are great. And the closer this person was to us, the greater. Something is missing in our social fabric, a hole has appeared. A hole that will not grow closed again so quickly.
Remembering together means coming to terms with loss together
There are deaths that are particularly tragic. For example, that of a child, a young person, or a parent who would still have been urgently needed for the care of the family or children. When a person who has grown old passes away, it is no less terrible for the relatives, but one may at least have had time to prepare for this passing.
What remains in all cases is the memory. How intense, how clear and how long, depends on what we do for it and what significance the deceased had in our lives. And whether there are people who had a similar relationship to this person as we do and who can talk to us about him or her and share memories of him or her. Then we can help each other get over the loss – a sorrow shared is a sorrow halved.
What can you do to keep memories alive?
In our fast-paced society, we very often go back to business as usual far too quickly. Just a moment ago, a loved one was laid to rest, a memorial service was celebrated, the moment of saying goodbye was extremely difficult, close relatives and friends remembered the deceased together over coffee and cake at the after-party – and then? Business as usual, the show must go on. Sometimes there is hardly any time to grieve properly and intensively.
New information floods in, life has to go on somehow. The memory of a loved one who is no longer with us threatens to fade. This can even lead to the point that one cannot properly process the death of a loved one, which can lead to an illness of the psyche.
And yet there are these moments of reflection, of pausing. You look back on the experiences you shared with the deceased. You listen to the answering machine over and over again to hear the beloved voice once more, leaf through photo albums, gather mementos. Things that remind you of special moments, perhaps letters you received while you were alive, pieces of jewelry, favorite books. Things that you pick up again and again, look at them and remember the events that are connected with the respective memento.
Capture shared memories in a book with Meminto Stories
Great personalities often have a book dedicated to them after their passing – or even before. A book in memory of the great deeds that this person has accomplished. But is not every human life so valuable that one could not write a book about it. Even if the deceased was never in the limelight and was not one of the celebrities of our time, for relatives and friends the memories of him are as important as if he had scored the decisive goal in the World Cup.
With Meminto Stories, survivors can now easily collect their memories and write them down in a shared book. When several people collect their contributions about a deceased person, it enriches the remembrance of him or her immensely. Suddenly, incidents that one has not thought about for years and decades come to life again. One learns something about a deceased person that one did not know at all and which makes him rise even more in personal esteem after his death. Like a puzzle, piece by piece a picture of life emerges, which in its entirety provides material for a real book about the memories of a loved one.
Meminto memory book - silent memory of a loved one, cheerful remembrance.
With the Meminto Memorial Book, the bereaved can dedicate a very personal book to the person who has passed away. The content of the book is circumstances, experiences and episodes from the life of this person. The book can have a single author or several. The more relatives or friends contribute to the book, the more varied and lively it becomes. And the more interesting it becomes for the survivors who get to read it. And the more vivid – permanently – the memory of the person who is no longer with us will remain.
If you would like to initiate such a book, you can set up an account on the Meminto homepage – www.meminto.com – and order the category “Memorial Book”. Everyone who wants to participate and is enthusiastic about this idea will also get an access to the personal area of the orderer. After some routine questions have been asked on the part of Meminto, the first steps can be taken on the way to a memorial book in memory of a loved one. Little by little, those involved are asked very specific questions about the life of the deceased. And so page after page is created.
Create a memory book now!
Get access to hundreds of questions about a loved one's life and create a keepsake with friends and family. We'll structure your answers, make sure you don't forget anything, and take care of printing and mailing. In just a few weeks, you'll have your very own personal keepsake in your mailbox!
All participants can also upload photos to the memories they contribute to make the story of the person in question as vivid as possible. A story that can cheer up the bereaved as much as make them think. A life story that ensures that the person who had to leave us is not forgotten. A book that all people who knew the deceased will be glad to take to hand again and again. And which, despite all the sadness, can also put a smile on a face here and there.
By the way, the Meminto team not only takes care of the content. From the layout and design of the cover to the professional printing and binding, Meminto takes care of all the tasks that are necessary for the production of the memorial book. And it also takes care of the reprint if additional copies are desired.
