12 Days of Holiday Remembrance

[MartyT]

Healing requires remembering.   View it in your browser Forward this email to a friend

Time cannot steal the treasure  that we carry in our hearts, nor ever dim the shining thought our cherished past imparts, for memories of the one we love still cast a gentle glow to grace our days and light our paths wherever we may go. - Author Unknown   Dearest Friend,   Healing requires remembering.   Recollection is a normal, sacred part of grieving.   When you define and use the essential practice of remembering, it opens your broken heart to healing. Your open heart holds an everlasting, faithful place for your beloved.   It’s here, where you maintain your relationship, not sever it, to provide comfort.   It’s here where you reminisce about your beloved, and not forget, to sustain you.   It’s here where you continue the bond of love, rather than relinquishing it, to empower you.   In the spirit of the holidays, I’ll be offering you 12 days of holiday remembrance activities to commemorate those you miss with MORE LOVE THAN PAIN. Please share these remembrance ideas with others who need support this holiday season.   Below is Day #1 of the 12 Days of Holiday Remembrance.    Many blessings, Chelsea   P.S.  If you’d like to share photos with our community about how you commemorate those you love, e-mail them to me at info@chelseahanson.com.   Using Ceremony to Pay Tribute to Those You Love   You can use ceremony to remember, mourn, and integrate loss into your life. The ceremony can consist of just you, a few people, or many others. Knowing others are paying tribute to your beloved person at the same time can provide loving comfort and support.   To get started, give a set of tea light candles to family members or friends and invite them to join you in a moment of remembrance from where they live.     During the ceremony, include an expressive poem or a few carefully chosen words to say when the candles are lit.   As each person lights their candle, a memory can be shared or a moment of silence can be observed. The deceased’s favorite song or meaningful music can be played in the background.   An online search of candlelight memorial service poems will reveal many beautiful readings that can be used. Here is an example:   In the rising of the sun, And it’s going down, We remember you.   In the blowing of the wind, And in the chill of winter, We remember you.   In the opening of buds, And in the warmth of summer, We remember you.   In the rustling of leaves, And in the beauty of autumn We remember you.   In the beginning of the year And when it ends, We remember you.   We remember you, And as long as we live You shall live too, For you are a part of us as, We remember you. ~ Author Unknown   A ceremony can become a yearly or more frequent ritual to facilitate healing (whether for a holiday, birthday, anniversary of loss, or any day your designate.) Using a holiday remembrance ritual will help you embrace your loss as well as reaffirm what your loved one continues to mean to you. How can you honor the person you miss at the holidays? Here is what bereaved grandmother, Debbie, is doing to honor her grandchild, Avery. The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Annual Candle Lighting is being held on December 13, 2020 (today) at 7:00 p.m.     Light a candle at 7:00 p.m. in your time zone to create a worldwide event for a period of 24 hours to remember and honor all children, grandchildren, and siblings that are no longer with us physically.   Debbie says, “Gone forever but never forgotten, their light will always shine.”   Remember Those Who Have Lost Loved Ones This Year      Ideal to Give or Receive at the Holidays! Pick Up A Copy Chelsea Hanson is an author, grief educator, and bereaved daughter. She wrote the Hello From Heaven series of gift books and the #1 new Amazon release The Sudden Loss Survival Guide.