A cemetery is a place of calmness and reflection. Surrounded by natural beauty, it provides people with a location for quiet contemplation. For some, that means strolling through the tranquil grounds while you wander through the stories of people who came before you.
But for others, they’re looking for one specific story, one that was entwined with their own. They’re looking for a loved one in a place where they can always find them, while they rest in the cemetery’s graves, crypts, or niches.
It’s not uncommon for people to leave notes for their loved ones, filled with memories or simply tales of their daily lives, just taking comfort in writing to the person they miss so greatly. Others, though, prefer to speak aloud, talking to their loved one while they feel the spirit of them in the air around them.
Every person’s grief journey is different, but many find some solace in cemeteries, where they can feel their loved one in the breeze, in the sound of singing birds, or in the smells of the sweet flowers and trees dotting the grounds. Whether they’re scrawling notes to their loved one, sharing stories aloud, or simply looking to sit in peace while they feel their loved one is right there, many people spend a great deal of time in cemeteries, finding comfort in sitting beside the graves, crypts, or niches of those they miss.
Whether they’re early in their grief journey or have already established a tradition of when they’ll visit the cemetery, people often times will just want somewhere to sit and be with the person they loved, who is never lost to them when they know exactly where to find them.
For the people who take comfort in the solace a cemetery can provide, purchasing a bench near your loved one’s grave, crypt, or niche can fulfill multiple purposes. For one, these benches, sometimes called memorial benches, give them that place to sit and find peace.
But these benches can also be highly customized and can also serve as a memorial to your loved one. Typically granite, they cover a larger space than other monuments do, providing you with more room to customize it with your loved one’s name, favorite quotes, and even their image, depending on the guidelines of the cemetery. They can even honor entire families, customizing them over time with the loved ones gracing a family plot or mausoleum.
When you enter a cemetery and head toward the location of your loved one’s final resting place, the first thing you’ll see is that bench beckoning you, just as your loved one would with open arms. As you see your loved one’s name or even image on the bench, you can imagine them welcoming you, telling you to sit and rest and talk to them all about your day.
Memorial benches, like so many of the unique monuments and memorials at our cemeteries, are a way to stay connected to the person you love so dearly. They not only honor their memory but also give you a tangible connection to them, reminding you that they’re never too far away.