There is a famous quote by an unknown author that truly captures the amazing power of memories: “When someone you love becomes a memory, that memory becomes a treasure.”

In his book, “Grief One Day at a Time,” author Alan D. Wolfelt, PhD, writes of the tremendous power and impact that memories have on us, particularly during our time of grief. “One of our essential needs of mourning is to remember the person who died,” he states. “At first it is often painful to remember, but over time remembering usually becomes easier and more rewarding.”

A memorial service that truly honors the life of someone we love and have lost is usually filled with wonderful memories through photographs, videos and spoken tributes. It is an important part of the healing process.

Gathering memories is something that we can do over our lifetimes. Things like photo albums, scrapbooks, videos and the like provide a treasure-trove of some of life’s best and most fun moments.

However, when a loss has occurred, it is also very helpul to reach out to others. Wolfelt suggest “gathering the memories of others by asking them to email anecdotes or thoughts about our special person…do informal interviews (to) piece together a biography of sorts…and if we want, publish this document in book form using simple online tools.”

Wolfelt concludes: “Our memories are indeed treasures. Memory gathering and preserving activities treat our treasures with the honor and respect they deserve. They also allow us to pass on our treasures to future generations.”