Coping with loss is never easy. If you have ever had the honor to know and spend time with someone that impacted your life you can understand how a piece of them is never forgotten but rather cherished.
The importance to grow and go forward is so important even when you may feel desperately alone with your grief. So why wait to share with your friends and family how much they mean to you? More importantly, take the time now to get to really know your loved ones while you can since time is non- refundable; so, use it with intention.
Connection to the past with our relationships, recreational pursuits, careers and passions help to shape our individual identities. Here are some ideas to get better acquainted with your friends, loved ones and even Residents if you are lucky enough to be in the active aging industry.
Think about having a legacy party with girl friends over spirits, create memory boxes with grandchildren or host a family/friend holiday event creatively connecting how you can collect the valuable information as outlined below.
Pictures: the individuals picture as a child, through the decades, as a newlywed, a business person, with their family when they were young. Vacation pictures, work pictures, newspaper articles.
Occupations: name badges, business cards, “tools of the trade” scrapbook clip art, logos, military badges. Don’t discount housewife as an occupation!
Roles: Family roles (parent, grandparent, etc.), PTA president, Sunday School Teacher, coach, volunteer.
Recreation: golf ball, religious icons, hobby supplies, travel logs, diary, info, cooking items, spool of thread, fishing lures, etc.
Accomplishments: awards, favorite recipes. Inventions (copies of patents, specific items)
My favorite things… specific candy bar wrapper, music, places, etc.
Loved ones may be gone from our sight but never forgotten in our hearts. Knowing that grief really has no end it just changes over time, I know you can find comfort relishing the small things like the sun, the moon, the stars, the water that are forever around us. However, take a moment to breath in sincere gratitude to be thankful for today and reminisce in real time.
Tracey Harvey, National Program Director Wellness Services, EnerG® by Aegis Therapies, is a nationally recognized leader in contract rehabilitation and wellness services with more than 7,500 therapists and clinicians providing proven therapy services in over 1,400 facilities across 42 states. Harvey has over three decades of experience in the Fitness/Wellness/ Retirement Living Industry and champions evidence-based programs across the nation to increase overall results using aspects of innovative business development tactics to drive quality, consistency, and successful outcomes.