by Linda Banks
Image* by Viktor Hanacek
Who doesn’t enjoy receiving a card with a loving message, or a box of chocolates on Valentine’s Day? Flowers are my favorite gift.
My friend Karen delighted in sending her mom a Valentine’s Day card every year. Even when Karen lived overseas, she devotedly sent a card to her mom by February 14th, along with chocolates and flowers. It was by far her mom’s favorite holiday. Valentine’s tokens decorated her home throughout the year.
Cremation urns for Valentine’s Day
Before she died, Karen’s mother told her family that she wanted to be cremated. She asked that her ashes be scattered at their family cabin in Wisconsin. When her mother passed in January, the family received the cremated remains in a temporary urn for ashes from the funeral home. They purchased a scattering urn and made plans to gather at their cabin by the lake the following summer to honor their mother’s wishes.
February arrived and Karen’s smart phone reminded her to get a Valentine’s Day card in the mail to her mom. But Karen thought of another way to celebrate her mom’s favorite holiday. She purchased a small, heart-shaped cremation urn and transferred a small portion of her mother’s cremated remains into the urn.
Crimson Heart Cremation Keepsake
She placed the urn on her mantel, along with flowers and a box of chocolates. On Valentine’s Day, she invited her brother and sister over to eat chocolate and exchange Valentine’s Day cards. This has become a family tradition she now shares with her children.
Cremation keepsakes
Valentine’s Day can be especially lonely when we have lost someone we love. Holiday festivities without a loved one can be empty and lack meaning. Not only is the accompanying emotion absent, it has been replaced with a broken heart.
Many families, like Karen’s, have created a tradition in order to reconstruct a holiday with a new narrative. They remember their loved ones and celebrate their lives on holidays and special occasions. They visit cemeteries to place flowers on birthdays or a wreath on Memorial Day. And like Karen, people purchase a new cremation urn each year to celebrate the love of a deceased family member or pet.
Cremation keepsakes are mini urns that provide a place to keep a small portion of ashes. Keepsake urns, such as the cloisonné blue keepsake heart and the platinum heart cremation keepsake urn, are ways to cherish the memory of your loved one. They also make a thoughtful gift to send a grieving friend or family member for Valentine’s Day or any day of the year. Because mini urns are small, they fit easily on a bureau, on a bookshelf, on a mantel, a nightstand, or in a kitchen window.
Necklaces for ashes are another way to keep a loved one close. Heart cremation pendants are designed to hold a small portion of ashes. The pendants honor and express love on Valentine’s Day and every day. Necklaces for ashes come in many other designs, as well, to suit a variety of tastes and styles.
Linda Banks provided extended end-of-life care for her beloved Aunt who was like her mother. When her brother suddenly died, she was instrumental in orchestrating all of the details of his final wishes to be cremated. Linda has been an active blogger for ten years, including blogging about Willie Nelson and his family. Willie told her recently that he reads her blog every day.