“My dad’s tribute page is something I’ll revisit and share with others until the day I join him in Heaven.”
– Bethany Johnson
As humans, for millennia we’ve used headstones to memorialize those we’ve lost. The practice helps us to…
- Integrate and process the loss
- Enable our grief and other emotions
- Bond with others who knew our loved one
- Honor and preserve their legacy
- Describe our loved ones to people who had never met them
These needs will never change. But what has changed – and will continue to – is how we memorialize our loved ones. The traditional cemetery headstone is fading (often literally) while the online tribute page gains sacred ground. The tribute page is the headstone of the future.
What is a tribute page?
A tribute page is an online memorial website where people gather virtually to celebrate, honor, and remember a loved one and the legacy they left. Here, friends and family can share stories, photos, and memories as well as support and comfort for one another.
A tribute page is more than that, though. It’s also an information hub, housing details about the memorial service, the obituary, and ways to support the immediate family of the deceased.
And finally, a tribute page is a place to go when the dust has settled and the loss morphs into a permanent part of life. Birthdays, anniversaries, favorite holidays, and even those random emotional days are perfect times to “go visit” your loved one.
Cemetery headstones are concrete, but a tribute page is comprehensive.
Recall the reasons people memorialize those who have passed:
- We do it to integrate and process the loss. Acknowledging this massive event – a loss of life – helps us all recognize the magnitude and power of life… and death. But a headstone is a physical reminder that stays in one spot. A memorial website or tribute page goes wherever you go. Your loved one’s memorial website or tribute page is as close to you as a browser tab on your mobile phone.
- We do it to enable our grief and other emotions. Experts at Mental Health America say that to grieve properly, you should express your bereavement when it hits you. We all know that grief never “hits” when you’re near your loved one’s resting place (and headstone). When those feelings come, you can pull up your loved one’s tribute page to express feelings physically, like crying or talking. New research shows that this can help your mental and emotional health.
- We do it to bond with others who knew our loved one. Another limitation of the traditional grave site and headstone is that when you visit your loved one’s final resting place, you’re usually alone or with only a few close family members. A tribute page or memorial website lets you gather with others who also admired your loved one – in whatever capacity. In fact, we often hear that people meet one another at their loved one’s tribute page, connecting across circles that never otherwise had a chance to form.
- We do it to honor and preserve their legacy. Many headstones include a short quote or phrase that embodies the deceased’s philosophy. At most, you have a couple lines to capture a whole life worth of opinions, expressions, and insights that the departed would want to leave behind. With a tribute page or memorial website, you have unlimited space to devote to their legacy. Now that our generation has tasted this freedom, surviving loved ones will never again be satisfied with the one or two lines afforded on traditional headstones.
- We do it to describe them to people who had never met them. Your loved one’s legacy is one aspect of who your loved one was, yes. But there’s also their laugh, their taste in music, their love for their pets, their travels, their habits, and other lovable quirks you want to share. As an example, here’s one way to consider it: No one has ever introduced a new friend to their parent’s gravestone. For that, our generation is turning to tribute pages or memorial websites.
The tribute page is the headstone of the future.
For thousands of years, we’ve used headstones and grave markers to honor those who have departed this life. The visuals have always commemorated a life lived, so that survivors can process their emotions and comfort one another. Gravestones are a tangible – and theoretically, permanent – symbol of the deceased.
But for the first time, gravestones are insufficient for all those purposes. They often require an effort to visit, the experience is usually a lonely one, and the cold, hard stone can’t quite convey all that your loved one meant to you and others. Tribute pages for deceased loved ones let you truly honor, truly memorialize, and truly remember someone in the way they – and you – deserve.
To learn how to build your own tribute page (or to let us do it for you), contact the compassionate team at Willowise today.