Memorial Heirlooms

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Memorial Treasures For Your Family

Heirlooms are precious family treasures that are given special care and handed down for generations. Tradition has it that an heirloom is something so important to a family that it would be the first thing (aside from any people) rescued from a house fire or other similar disaster. Heirlooms usually come in the form of quilts, jewelry, photographs, or even books and furniture. But a cremation urn? That is not a typical family heirloom, is it?

Well, why shouldn't it be? Moreover, why stop at cremation urns as a memorial heirloom? Today's memorial industry offers a huge variety of products that are suitable as both memorials and heirlooms combined. Here are a few ideas:

Memorial heirlooms can take on the shape and form of just about anything, and with the huge variety of products available in today's memorial industry, just about anything is available for order (or special order). Cremation urns can be found in hundreds of varieties, truly something for everyone. In fact, cremation urns are so unique today that some people have taken to selecting their urns well before their death and displaying them proudly in their homes for large portions of their lives. This is becoming a tradition, in fact, among motorcycle enthusiasts who are intrigued by "motorcycle urns," a relatively new type of urn shaped like a motorcycle gasoline tank. Many a cyclists now buy these urns -- or receive them as gifts -- and proudly display them in their garage near their bikes or in some other special place where they become, over times, heirlooms in their own right, even when not filled with ashes. Once filled for its intended purpose, the urn, then, becomes immeasurably even more precious to a family than any traditional heirloom could ever be. Moreover, motorcycle urns are just the start: today's cremation urns are available to salute just about any hobby or lifestyle imaginable. There are traditional, classic urns, wild and imaginative urns, hunting urns, racecar urns, knitting urns, urns for specific sports such as golf, baseball and even soccer, and, well, the list can continue indefinitely.

But even the variety of urns available is just a dent in the number of memorial items that can be used as heirlooms. Headstones and statues have long been around as traditional memorial products that can serve double duty as heirlooms for a family (even though these are usually displayed away from a family home, thereby minimizing their effectiveness as heirlooms). In addition, one relatively new idea, and another brand new concept, only add to the variety.

Cremation jewelry is fine jewelry (usually either gold or sterling silver and occasionally including diamonds) that is designed with a crevice for storing up to a teaspoon of a loved-one's ashes. These pieces can be worn or displayed as any other jewelry can be, and that gives them their heirloom qualities. But cremation jewelry has the additional, beautiful, advantage of being a memorial product as well. This product has become popular only in recent years, but it seems poised to become a mainstay in the memorial industry for years to come.

Art in Ashes is the newest idea to come about that ties the idea of an heirloom with that of a memorial. In short, art in ashes involves a painter mixing a tiny piece of cremation ashes into a work. In most cases, the painting is done well in advance of death and can be displayed, just as with an urn, for years before the ashes are mixed in. This combination of heirloom and memorial makes an Art in Ashes piece a perfect idea for just about any family.