Death, dying and grieving are a natural part of life and sometimes our society doesn’t always do a good job of preparing people for facing their own deaths or the loss of loved ones.

But the Lights of Life project (a tree lighting ritual that I participated in while I lived in Canada’s far north—Whitehorse, Yukon) gave people the opportunity to do some healthy grieving—to acknowledge the pain they may have been feeling as Christmas reminded them of the special people they couldn’t be with. It was an opportunity to honor the special people in our lives who had died or who were not with us during Christmas due to illness or distance.

We literally turned on a Christmas bulb (or some people lit a candle), and many of us wrote in a Memory Book (telling our story of loss) and received support from those around us. We also received a special ornament that we took home and hung on our tree.

It was such a beautiful ceremony and an easy way of bringing people together to remember, to support and to celebrate.

Is this ritual happening anywhere else in the world?

What do you do this time of year to honor or remember loved ones who have died.

Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My Friend
Read an excerpt now
TV Shows and Clips about the death of Cindy James