Memorials

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Memorials such as the famous ones for President's Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson that grace our nation's capital - are an important part any culture's history and traditions. Without such memorials, the amazing contributions of legendary historical figures might loose much of their deserved luster over the years. But large-scale memorials assure that great deeds and great people will never be forgotten.

But memorials have others important roles too. Today, in particular, memorials are not just reserved for the most famous and powerful people of a society. Rather, memorials serve as a great equalizer that gives even the modest and meek the hope of, like the world's great leaders, being remembered for the ages. Most everyone today can expect to be remembered for years to come with memorials designed to take their memory to the future.

Memorials, of course, need to be designed to last the ages, and the sturdy construction of headstones assures just that. The long lasting granite or bronze headstones that are most common today assure that memorials will remain intact long after the elements have destroyed paper records or technology has made electronic records obsolete.

The design of permanent memorials has changed substantially over the years. For many years, permanent memorials were usually marked by headstones that were large, up-right pieces of sculpted stone and contained written information about the people whose graves they marked. While these types of memorials are still are used today, they now usually mark groups of graves (such as an entire family). Meanwhile, memorials for individuals typically consist of smaller, plaque-like headstones.  In most memorials today, these individual headstones are made of bronze, granite, or a combination of the two, and displayed directly on the ground at the head of a grave. These memorials typically preserve the memory of one individual or a couple and they work in tandem with the larger, up-right headstones to create beautiful memorials for entire families. .

Aside from helping assure a place in history for just about every person alive, memorials can be great for helping families cope with the loss of a loved-one. By establishing permanent memorials, such as headstones, when loved-ones die; families can practice the sound advice that psychologists typically give to those going through the grieving process.  Memorials are important, experts say, even for people whose bodies have been cremated (a tradition whose popularity is increasing dramatically). No matter how the ashes are disbursed, cremated loved-ones are often given memorials, complete with headstones installed, in today's cemeteries.

Many people arrange for memorials "pre-need," that is before a person has died. Headstones for pre-need memorials have the name (or, in the case of companion memorial headstones, names) inscribed at the time of purchase, and then the death dates are added later. Many people choose this option for memorials because they want the peace of mind that comes from choosing the design and style of their own headstones.