With Remembrance Day coming upon us, we talk about the importance of remembrance. We look to decades past to honour and remember those who fought for our freedoms. We often hear the voices of veterans shake as they share their stories, and look on in awe as they show us their medals – but what does it really mean to remember? How do we preserve the memory of a person who is no longer with us?

All memories are intangible for that is why we must hold on to them by expressing emotion, preserving tradition, and saving momentums and photographs.

While we each grieve differently and remember privately, there are ways of preserving what we hold sacred to us:

Express your emotion: Express how you feel through talking, writing, crafting, or art. Share stories and little moments of significance to keep the memory and connection alive. Write stories, letters, journals, or blogs. There is great power in writing your emotions, you can say things that you never had the opportunity to say and you can reflect on your life and the time that has passed.

 Preserve traditions:Remember someone by what they always did as tradition whether it was your dad’s mixed-matched lucky baseball socks or your best friend’s Christmas Eve gift exchange. These traditions can make you feel connected, keep the memory of a person in the present, and make you feel like you share a special secret.

 Hold on to momentums and photographs:The idea that you’re holding on to something that was once theirs makes you feel closer. A momentum or photograph can transport you to the past. Ragged teddy bears, an old hair brush, photo albums, or scrapbooks can provoke memories and encourage expressions of thoughts and feelings. They can be a source of comfort and a springboard to memories.

“Sometimes you will never know the value of something, until it becomes a memory” – Dr. Seuss