It has not been easy to bring people together in the last year. Restrictions put into effect by the spread of the novel coronavirus in 2020 made it nearly impossible for people to socialize with those outside of their immediate households. Though these restrictions have been eased and a vaccination is circulating throughout the population, many people are still hesitant to dive into any kind of risky activity. If a traditional memorial service for a loved one who passed recently is not possible, then there are some worthy alternatives to explore.

The Online Approach

Throughout 2020, people found that the video chatting functions available on countless apps were far more useful than initially thought. When conducting board meetings to kindergarten classes to wedding receptions, hosts like Zoom were able to make a name for themselves throughout the madness of the pandemic. If you’re interested in hosting a memorial service, the first and most obvious choice available to you is to conduct the entire affair on the internet. How you go about this will depend largely on the type of service you’re having. A Zoom meeting may work, but there are other options available. 

Some families have found success with streaming specific memorial services. A number of social apps allow for streaming features, meaning anyone with access can jump into the stream at any point. There is not much interactivity with this option, however, as it is primarily for viewing an event. Dive into the digital side of things and you’ll start to discover how many different routes you can take with an online service.

Create a Shared Document

Memorial services are all about remembering the departed. This typically involves sharing stories of the deceased during better days. Since you might not be able to get together with loved ones for the event, a great alternative is creating a shared document. The internet makes it easy for people all over the world to share pictures, text files, videos, and anything else you can imagine. Create a shared folder on Google Drive or another app where friends and family can begin uploading images and other media associated with the departed. 

You can take all of this media and turn it into a more comprehensive project, or you can simply allow it to live in the folder for anyone to peruse. You can even create a shared document that people can edit to include specific memories or facts about the deceased. The shared experience can bring people together during a time when they aren’t physically there with each other. 

Create an Online Book

Memorial services usually have a guest book that people can sign to leave thoughts or sentiments about the deceased for others to read. Nowadays, there are a number of websites that offer similar services for online events. As mentioned, creating a Google Doc is an easy way for guests to edit a shared doc together. Still, you may want more structure. Explore the various sites that allow you to create a guest book for a service — you may find it offers more parameters for how guests can go about leaving comments and contact information.  

Do Something Small and Outside

If you only have a small group of people to bring together, it is still possible to host a service in person if it is outside and follows the rules of social distancing. You can gather in your backyard or go somewhere a bit more public like a park or beach. As long as you keep the numbers sensible, there’s nothing wrong with showing respect to the deceased with a private ceremony outside. 

A memorial service is an event that is very significant to those who have lost a loved one. Though in-person gatherings might be a bit more difficult than in the past, there are still countless ways for you to go about honoring the departed and showing proper respect.