Did you know that there are many ways to create loving memories ‘on-line’ for your lost loved ones? It is one of the many ways that can help bereaved people create their own personalised and (mostly) free online memorial in memory of a loved one.
Here at Unique Care Provider, we did not know much about the memorial sites out there until we lost some very special family members during the past 12 months. We thought we’d share what we found with you, including details on some of the sites that you can look at.
What is a memorial website?
A memorial website is a central online location where friends and families can share memories, stories, photos, and more. A well-designed memorial website focuses on community – giving loved ones a place to grieve, celebrate, and comfort one another. It’s not easy to lose a loved one.
We were able to create and share stories, upload photos and found there are even some sites that offer funeral notice services.
These pages are a great way to allow people from all over the world to pay their tributes to the friends and family they have lost. While some of them are free, others charge a small fee for enhanced features.
This American-based, free site is a fantastic way to honour your loved ones. It may be used for communities to pay their respects, crowd-fund for charities and organise meet-ups/gatherings.
Perhaps the most widely used and most recognisable name in the industry, (there is a small annual charge for this service per year, but this gives you a greater degree of personalisation options). Memorial pages can have background music that automatically plays and a wall for visitors to leave messages on. Like gatheringus.com there is also the option of a charity donation page.
This website is much sleeker and easier to work with than those previously mentioned. The interface is tactful and there are a wide range of templates to choose from. Background music, charity donations and ‘virtual candles’ are included in the free basic version. However, if you desire to upload additional videos, pictures or other media then you will need to upgrade to the premium versions which do have a small annual cost.
Created by a web developer to memorialise his own grandmother, this page and layout feels a lot warmer and personable than many of the others (which sometimes feel a little corporate). While not over-brimming with personalisation features, it does offer a lot of the standard services: photos, backgrounds, tribute pages and candles. It is one of the best free options out there.
An online digital vault for your most important life documents, optimised to allow you to share your wishes, preferences and documents with your trusted advisers (lawyers, accountants and solicitors) and close friends and family.
This site’s technological features set it apart from the rest. QR codes can be placed on gravestones or elsewhere that redirect those who scan them to their loved one’s memorial page. You can even ‘geo-tag’ their final resting place for those who want to pay their respects in person but could not make it to the funeral. Along with these ‘techy’ features are the standard memorial pages that visitors can read and collaborate on. These memorial pages are free but the codes and bonuses are extra.
This service is exceptionally integrated with Facebook: users can login through Facebook, post photos and share the page at the click of a button. However, this convenience, along with the fact that you cannot change the standard template/background, does mean that it can sometimes feel a bit too much like just being on social media. Standard is free while paying for the ‘legacy’ option is available, which allows unlimited photos and private pages.
While this site may appear a little more basic than the others mentioned above, it does integrate and guide users to other beneficial services such as grief counselling, funeral services and more. Additionally, rather than an annual subscription fee, it only asks for a one-time payment; or a little extra for the premium service which offers more customisation and unlimited photos.
Why not check them out for yourself and let us know which one you think offers the best memorialisation for your loved one?
How do you write a memorial post?
Be as personal in your writing as you were in your relationship with the subject of the memorial. Mention how much they were respected and admired by you and others. You can tell personal or serious anecdotes or even jokes, but the purpose of telling is to show the personality and character of your loved one. Upload photos and video; all the sites we reviewed help and guide you in how to do this.
Here are some beautiful thoughts we have found that you may like to use as part of a memorial:
“What moves through us is a silence, a quiet sadness, a longing for one more day, one more word, one more touch. We may not understand why you left this earth so soon, or why you left before we were ready to say good-bye, but little by little, we begin to remember not just that you died, but that you lived. And that your life gave us memories too beautiful to forget”
— Author Unknown
In Memory of a life so beautifully lived…a heart so deeply loved
— Author Unknown
The morning glory blooms but for an hour
and yet it differs not at heart
from the giant pine
that lives for a thousand years
— Teitoku Matsunaga, Japanese Poet
“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.”
— Thomas Campbell
“There is no foot too small that it cannot leave an imprint on this world”
— Author unknown
Those we have held in our arms for a little while, we hold in our hearts forever
— Author Unknown
“Although it’s difficult today to see beyond the sorrow,
May looking back in memory help comfort you tomorrow”
— Author unknown
How very softly you tiptoed into our world,
almost silently, only a moment you stayed.
But what an imprint your footsteps have left upon our hearts
–Dorothy Ferguson
— Author unknown
Earth hath no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal
— Thomas Moore
Like a bird singing in the rain,
let grateful memories survive in time of sorrow.
— Robert Louis Stevenson
“Wherever a beautiful soul has been
there is a trail of beautiful memories”
— Author Unknown
“For death is no more than a turning of us over from time to eternity.”
— William Penn
“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.
— Abraham Lincoln
“Death leaves a heartache no one can heal,
love leaves a memory no one can steal.”
— From a headstone in Ireland
“Some people come into our lives,
leave footprints on our hearts,
and we are never the same.”
— Author unknown
“When you are sorrowful look again in your heart,
and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.”
— Kahlil Gibran
— Author unknown
“When you lose someone you love,
you gain an angel you know”
— Author unknown
“I know for certain that we never lose the people we love, even to death.
They continue to participate in every act, thought and decision we make.
Their love leaves an indelible imprint in our memories.
We find comfort in knowing that our lives have been enriched by having shared their love.”
— Leo Buscaglia
“While we are mourning the loss of our friend,
others are rejoicing to meet him behind the veil.”
— John Taylor
“May tender memories soften your grief,
May fond recollection bring you relief,
And may you find comfort and peace in the thought
Of the joy that knowing your loved one brought…
For time and space can never divide
Or keep your loved one from your side.
When memory paints in colours true,
the happy hours that belonged to you.”
— Helen Steiner Rice
“There are no goodbyes for us.
Wherever you are, you will always be in my heart.”
— Mahatma Gandhi
— Quoted in The Angels’ Little Instruction Book by Eileen Elias Freeman
“It is not length of life, but depth of life.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Finally, please remember, we are always here if you need to talk to us, it has been a really tough time for us all.
Thinking of everyone who is grieving at this difficult time, Toni Mousley
