Unusual Memorials Ease the Healing Process
July 28, 2008 by Anna Farmery
Filed under Building Memorials
Grief affects us all in different ways. I was intrigued by this article at Buffalo News which highlights memorials people have created to remember their loved ones. Here are some examples
- A Metro Bus rumbles down Delaware Avenue in downtown
Buffalo, displaying a full-color portrait of the late Tim Russert, former NBC News Washington bureau chief.
- Two years after a Buffalo nun’s violent death, thousands of people who never knew her still have “I Leave Peaceprints” signs sprouting from their front lawns in memory of the legacy of Sister Karen Klimczak.
- Millions who watched a Super Bowl halftime show in 2002 engaged in a communal grief session when a giant screen scrolled the names of every person killed at the World Trade Center.
I am attending a service this Sunday at my Dad’s local church to place a plaque to honour his memory. I am not sure Dad would totally approve of all the fuss, however he loved the church and I know he would feel that he was “home”. Memorials are a great way of ensuring that the world never forgets our wonderfully loving lost relatives.
Have you created a memorial?
Coming from Canada, we are big hockey fans. My husband was a very big Montreal Canadiens fan. This fall in front of the Canadiens’ arena the hockey club has created a Centennial Plaza in honour of the team’s 100th anniversary. They are selling bricks in the monument which you can buy and have a name inscribed. We have bought a brick with my husband’s name on it and the words In Honour of a True Habs, his name, and 1943 – 2008. The team sent us a certificate with the number of his brick and the inscription. When the Plaza opens, we will get a map with the number on it so we can locate it easily. My family intends to be there when the Plaza opens and hopefully attend a game together. I know my husband would be very happy to see us all there and watching his beloved “Habs” play.
Although I have followed hockey (less frequently since moving from Minnesota to Texas), I don’t understand the “Habs” name. Please enlighten this ignorant American?
And – by the way – I LOVE this memorial idea!
Hi Jessica,
The name “Habs” is the nickname for the Canadiens. It is short for “les habitants” which is what the first settlers of Quebec were called. Hope that helps. We are all so looking forward to seeing the memorial when it is completed which will be this fall sometime.
Hey you see we are not only learning about loss here we are educating each other at the same time
I didn’t know that thanks Leslie