The death of a loved one is a complicated, often messy and always difficult time for those left behind. Part of the process involves finding ways to keep the memory of the person who has passed alive and find ways to remember them in the every day, focusing on the happy moments.
Memorial keepsakes allow you to memorialize the loved one in a very personal way and in many instances keep that reminder with you at all times. Such traditions are not new. In the 16th century, mourning jewelry, for example, was widely used, but it was the mass production techniques of Victorian era that brought it into the mainstream. The ash pendants, cremation bracelets and other types of jewelry often hold ashes or locks of hair to create an even greater connection to the deceased. Such traditional memorial keepsakes — from rings to necklaces — are increasingly being sought to help keep a loved one’s memory alive for those left behind. Memorial keepsakes can also make unique sympathy gifts.
Mourning jewelry is not the only type of memorial keepsake being used. As cremation has increased — national cremation rates have jumped by over 20% in the last ten years, the Cremation Association of North America (CANA) — interest in cremation urns and urn decorations such as urn pendants has also increased. Creation has a long history with the Romans practicing it widely; during that period which spanned 27 B.C. to 395 A.D. the remains were stored, much as they are today, in beautiful urns housed in niches in columbarium-like buildings. Today most cremation urns are 400 cubic inches, which is the standard industry size. The urns can be adorned with pendants and charms that memorialize the deceased in a special way.
Cremation is set to grow in the United States, with CANA listing 2,100 crematoriums in the country in 2009, which, together, performed cremations on over 37% (9,000 cremations) of the total deaths in America.
