Solar Cross

Softly glowing lighted sentinels that light the way to your loved one’s grave, illuminated grave markers provide gentle comfort to families. An increasingly popular way to pay tribute to our loved ones, solar light grave markers come in a variety of comforting choices including the lovely ethereal Solar Light Angel, the bright white Solar Light Cross, the Inspirational Solar Bible, the beautifully colored Memorial Flag, the popular Solar Light Yellow Ribbon and the very personal Solar Light Photograph Display that allows families to display a lighted picture of their loved one on top of the headstone. All illuminated grave markers are powered by discrete energy-efficient solar light panels that in no way distract from their beauty.

Light has been an important element of funeral rites and burial customs for centuries. Primitive tribes feared death and believed it was brought about by evil spirits. In many cultures, bodies were burned in funeral pyres to excise evil spirits from the dead and protect the living.

In other cultures, fire was believed to light the way to the next world. The spirits of their dead were believed to ascend to the next world on the smoke of funeral pyres. A vestige of those ancient customs can be found in the candle lighting practiced by many modern religions and cultures to honor the dead.

Grave Stone Cleaning Before & After

When families place a stone on the grave of a loved one, they want it to last for all time. The names and dates chiseled into stone serve as memorials to family members who have passed on and as markers for future generations to connect to their ancestral roots. It is by their grave stones that many people discover their ancestors and trace their family’s journey across America. The stone markers provide a certain solace and tangible connection to those who have gone before us.

Today, most grave stone markers are made of granite or marble, two particularly hard and long-lasting stones. In the past, pieces of wood or field stones were used to mark graves. Sometimes referred to as wolf stones, field stones were placed on graves to deter scavenging animals. Slate was a popular early grave marker, eventually giving way to the superior durability of granite and marble.

Over time rain, snow, pollution, hot summers and cold winters take a toll on even the hardest stone, including grave stones and monuments. Surfaces become black and dirty looking. Carved inscriptions become dulled by erosion and begin to fade. Without periodic cleaning and restoration, these lasting monuments will not last forever. The Gravesite Masters offers professional stone and monument cleaning and restoration services. We can return your loved one’s grave stone or your family’s monument marker to its original sharp, clear and beautiful condition.

Memorial Cairn

Flowers aren’t for everyone. The ancient Celts marked graves with cairns, stacks of rocks and stones of varying size from near boulders to small pebbles. Many cairns seen in Scotland, Wales and Ireland are conical but some are tall precarious towers of stacked rocks that seem to defy the laws of gravity. Over the centuries the building of cairns has been a time-honored way to memorialize the dead.

During the Bronze Age, large cairns containing burial cists, stone coffins, were built throughout the United Kingdom. Usually built on a hill above the deceased’s village, cairns served as both memorial and reminder of the deceased. A freeform tombstone marking an individual’s passing, the pile of stones may have served to discourage grave robbers or keep dead souls from escaping. In Scottish tradition, rocks were carried from the bottom of the hill to the cairn at the top, the cairn growing in size as each visitor added another rock to the pile.

It is tradition for each person passing by a cairn to add a stone. Stones must be added to the top of the cairn and be smaller than the stone upon which it is placed. Not only does the habit counteract the effects of weathering; but when the cairn marks a grave, adding a stone is considered a sign of respect. In keeping with cairn tradition, The Gravesite Masters can arrange to mark a loved one’s grave with a memorial rock or boulder, a timeless tribute and the beginning of a cairn to commemorate your loved one.

18" Gold Fancy Heart

Love doesn’t end when someone close to us dies. Love stays in our hearts where it is nurtured by our memories.

On Valentine’s Day it is as natural to remember and honor those who have enriched our lives but are no longer with us as it is to bring flowers and chocolates to the living.

After the death of a spouse, parent, child or close friend, remembering our departed loved ones on special holidays and on birthdays and anniversaries with a gravesite wreath or floral arrangement helps us to grieve and gradually assimilate their loss into our lives.

The Gravesite Masters offers a large selection of lovely Valentine’s Day wreaths to decorate the graves of loved ones who have passed away. Heart-shaped wreaths in a wide variety of colors and designs ensure that you’ll be able to find a fitting tribute for your departed loved one. Gravesite Masters also offers a large variety of popular gravesite stick hearts that can be easily stuck into the ground at the individual’s gravesite. Bouquet and vase combos are another popular Valentine’s Day gravesite decoration. Our velvety artificial rose bouquets are so real looking you’ll want to reach out and touch them.

Not only can you purchase gravesite memorial flowers from The Gravesite Masters, but we can arrange to deliver them to the cemetery and place them on the grave of your loved one, allowing you to remember loved ones across the country.

Solar Light Angel

More people die in January and February than at any other time during the year, according to statistics from the National Vital Statistics System; but you’ll rarely see the word “died” in their death notices. Obituaries are rarely cut-and-dried factual articles written by newspaper reporters; most are memorials created by the family of the deceased. Perhaps it’s a wish to soften the finality of death, perhaps it’s an effort to keep the inevitable at arm’s length, maybe it’s human denial; but when you read an obituary you’ll find that most people tend to distance themselves from death by using euphemisms for life’s final event.

“Death is hard to deal with,” Geoffrey Nunberg told McClatchy Newspapers. The University of California at Berkeley linguist said most people avoid the “D” word when describing death. “This is one reality that’s hard to face head-on.”

Our avoidance of death is nothing new. Euphemisms for death can be found in the Bible, Homer and Shakespeare. The phenomenon seems universal, cutting across centuries and cultures. “Passed away” is the phrase most favored in obituaries, although there are many others:

• “Crossed over”
• “Joined his wife”
• “Left us suddently”
• “Passed over to his reward”
• “Returned home”
• “Went to sleep peacefully”
• “Taken away from us”
• “Slipped away quietly”

Some psychologists believe it would be healthier for us to face death head on. They believe using “dead” and “died” to describe death helps people face the finality of death and grieve.

For those who never got their 10 minutes of fame while they were living, an Iowa funeral home has come up with a unique, if bizarre solution. The Des Moines funeral home will place your funeral announcement — with your photo, of course — on high-tech electronic billboards around the city. Family members can arrange to have a favorite picture of their departed loved one, along with details about their life and information about visitation and funeral services, posted larger-than-life in full color for the entire city to see.

The unusual billboard program is a first in the funeral industry, Jessica Koth, a spokeswoman for the National Funeral Directors Association in Brookfield, Wisconsin, told the Associated Press.  Billboard advertisements for funeral homes are common, but this is the first time Koth said she’s ever heard of someone putting information about the deceased or funeral service information on a billboard. The new program has caught some flak for lack of sensitivity, but the general manager of the Des Moines funeral home defends the practice, saying it’s just a modern take on newspaper obituaries.

Who knows whether the idea will catch on, but The Gravesite Masters believe family may be better comforted by online memorials and interactive life legacies and remembrance registries that allow family members to share their memories, thoughts and pictures about their departed loved one.

Grief is a process. When a husband or wife, sibling or close friend or child die, the loss elicits powerful emotions. Even though expressions of grief can seem disturbing to others, they are all part of the normal grieving process. In her book On Death and Dying, Dr. Elsabeth Kubler-Ross identified five stages of grief:

• Denial - refusal to believe that death has occurred.
• Anger or blaming - need to lash out at someone, including the deceased, to rail at the world for causing your loss.
• Bargaining - attempts to make a deal with God or the Fates to return the deceased to life. In some cases, particularly long-married spouses or a parent who loses a young child, the individual will ask to die so they can be reunited with the deceased.
• Depression - blaming yourself for the death, turning your grief inward.
• Acceptance - accepting that death is part of life and that life moves forward.

Each person expresses each phase of grief in his own unique way and moves through the grieving process in his own time. Some people have trouble moving through the stages of grief and may get “stuck,” unable to move forward on their own. Support groups or professional counseling may help them process their grief. Hospice facilities and hospitals, senior and community centers and churches are good sources for grief support groups. Remembrance Registries and Life Legacies can also help family members support each other in their grief.

Christmas Stocking Gravesite Tribute

There is nothing more tragic than the loss of a child. A child’s death during the Christmas holidays is even more difficult for parents and families. The presents already wrapped and waiting under the tree will never be opened by your child. The stocking hung over the fireplace will remain unfilled. The absence of someone you love feels particularly poignant during the Christmas holidays. Every holiday activity is tinged with the grief of your child’s absence. While parents and families need time to grieve for their loss, as time passes many find great comfort in establishing a holiday tradition that commemorates their child.

Think of your child’s life, his particular talents, the things he enjoyed doing most and activities he participated in regularly. The memorial activities that bring families the most comfort have two key elements:

1. The activity is built around something strongly associated with the child when he was alive.
2. The activity allows families and friends to work together to help others in the name of the child. Activities that require direct participation - DOing something - seem to bring the greatest comfort and satisfaction.

Some families begin that first year by donating their child’s Christmas gifts to a local hospital. Each year thereafter they gather and wrap gifts with friends, neighbors and school mates and deliver them to hospitalized children. Canned food drives, sports and arts scholarships, and pet supply drives are other common memorials. There is comfort in carrying on your child’s legacy.

Sharing memories about our loved ones when they pass is an important part of the grieving process. In coming together to talk about our dearly departed we celebrate their life and accomplishments. As each family member and friend shares his or her knowledge and memories, we are comforted by our living memorial to a life well spent. Through the memories of others we learn things we may not have known about the early days or business successes or personal accomplishments of a father or a grandfather. Our memories are enriched by seeing our loved one through the eyes of others.

The Gravesite Masters’ Life Legacy helps families to create an interactive living memorial to their loved one. Through interactive Guestbook, Photo Gallery and Sharing Memories sections and a Family Forum message board, family members can share recollections, photographs and messages of sympathy with family members and friends across the country. More than 50 photos with captions can be displayed in the photo gallery and an unlimited biography about the deceased and his life can be written. A Life Legacy forever preserves the memories of families and friends, serving as a touching tribute to the deceased and a cherished memory for the family or spouse.

The Gravesite Masters

The holidays can be an especially difficult time for those who have lost a loved one during the past year. As the family gathers for Thanksgiving, the absence of a beloved spouse or parent or child is more keenly felt with the realization that, this year, he or she will not be joining you at the table and sharing in the festivities. As other family members step into the shoes of those who have passed on, the pain of their passing is felt anew.

Grieving is a strange beast. It comes and goes and preys upon our emotions at unwary moments. Even when we believe we have put grief behind us, it catches us unawares during the holidays. Memories of dad wielding the carving knife or mom pulling pies out of the oven can overwhelm us as we see others performing holiday chores that for years were theirs alone. Time does heal and with time memories grow and pain fades. But for the first few years after a loved one’s funeral, the holidays can be bittersweet.

Actively acknowledging these moments of grief can help families adjust to their loss. In sharing memories of holidays past, we pay tribute to those who have passed on. Many families make it a point to visit the cemetery during the holidays to commemorate their loved ones with flowers or a wreath. Sharing a quiet prayer of thanks and remembering how a parent or sibling touched your life brings peace during the holidays.