| Written by Carolyn Girard, The Catholic Register,
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Views : 458  |
 Catholic Cemeteries of the diocese of Hamilton is giving grieving families the chance to share stories of their loved ones through a new Internet service.
“Life Stories” gives families the chance to share about the life of their deceased loved ones online. Families can submit a 400-word story as a memorial that can be read by relatives and friends worldwide.
“When a person dies, families often find it intensely comforting to share memories and personal anecdotes,” said John O'Brien, director of Catholic Cemeteries.
Catholic Cemeteries introduced the initiative in April after seeing a significant increase in traffic to its web site, which offers several resources. O'Brien said he took the idea to a handful of families who had recently lost relatives.
“They're very pleased because it gives them an opportunity not only for themselves, but their family to deal with their grief in a written form,” he said.
He said that it allows people to share in the stories about a certain person's life if they were unable to attend the funeral because of distance or other personal circumstances.
Bill Templeton, the district cemeterian for Brantford and Paris, said people wanting to submit a story, who aren't the greatest of writers, shouldn't be shy.
“If they need help putting their thoughts together, we'll help them,” he said.
People can even submit stories about loved ones who may have passed away years ago.
“The most recent one we had was from a young woman who wrote about her grandmother, who had died several years before,” he said. “It was her way of dealing with the grief, and it's also a nice way of keeping that person alive.”
The “Life Stories” section can be found at www.thecatholiccemeteries.ca. Along with the story, which must include date, place of birth and death, people can also submit a photo of the person they are writing about. The stories will eventually be archived on the web site.
Catholic Cemeteries operates 16 cemeteries in Brantford, Guelph and Hamilton, as well as five mausolea.
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