How to Write a Book of Remembrance
The loved ones of deceased people write books of remembrance to memorialize their lives. The books contain key events in the person's life, pictures and memories collected about the person from friends and relatives. They are personal, written for one person or for families or the inner circle of the lost person. Sometimes they are used at the funeral itself, or even printed up for distribution. They are also written for wider audiences, to memorialize people lost in wars or disasters.
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Instructions
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Select a format for the book. Most recently, people have written online memorial books that enable you to include digital photographs and text. Free, general purpose website pages suitable for this are available from google.com.
If you would like memorial funds to go to worldvision.com, a charity that helps children worldwide, they will provide you with a free online memorial book, where friends can leave their memories and, instead of buying flowers, donate money. Scrap books, with text and imagery pasted in, are used. They are available at craft stores like Michaels or Hobby Lobby, or online from Milestone Press. -
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Review your own memories of the person. Try thinking chronologically, starting with your earliest memory and working to the present. Write out a list of favorites, the person's cherished friends, entertainments or experiences. Look at the person's possessions for hints about what to include. Use these things to stimulate your memory. Take notes for later use in the book.
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Gather photographs of the departed person. These can be included in the book itself or used to collect additional memories and topics for the book. Individual photos may remind you of amusing or sad stories that you can use, and they remind readers what the person looked like.
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Check through the phone book, email list or cell phone of the individual and send out a request for stories, experiences and memories that these people can share. They often want to express their love for the person. Ask for photographs, poetry or art work about the person being memorialized.
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Arrange the book chronologically, starting with the person's birth. Stop to add details at key moments when they accomplished something or experienced something important in their lives, like births, jobs, education, moves or pets they had. You can divide the book into chapters, one for each phase of the person's life.
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Arrange the book by source, allowing various people to tell their stories, each in a different chapter. This allows for different perspectives on the person, enabling readers to see her in different roles. Arrange the book by holiday, covering the main gatherings of the year in your family, with anecdotes and photos. Try out different organizational schemes to bring up more cherished memories.
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Publicize the book, making sure that all loved ones have a chance to see it and acquire a copy of it. You can do this by making a mailing list from the visitation book at the funeral.
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