Facebook Memorials - Keeping their Memory Alive
Facebook is not just for the living. There you'll find my late husband, Kevin Boitson. After a devastating alert passed across my screen telling me "You haven't connected with Kevin in a while" when he had been dead a couple of months, I was informed by friends that I could immortalize him in Facebook by having his active page changed to a memoriam page. The only way one knows this is by clicking on his Facebook page to see that it's a memorial page.
When I first had it changed over to a Memorial page I wondered if I would be the only one leaving comments. This isn't the case. Many of his friends wished him a Happy Birthday in heaven and shared moments of reflection on memories they once had together. As a birthday occurred today for another widow's husband (whom also died of Angiosarcoma) I shared a 'Happy Birthday' on his page. I had to wonder if all of Facebook friends knew he had died?
Facebook is considerate of this fact and has come a long way since I became a widow. It took petition writing for them to honor us with a "widowed" relationship status when we weren't single and didn't want it to be complicated (but oh how it was)! You can read Facebook's blog about how to create a memorial page for a loved one who has died. While it may not be for everyone, it has been healing for me to read others memories of my late husband and to know that I am not grieving alone for his death.