When you have lost someone that you love to death, it is such a difficult and confusing time. During that time that you are going through the mourning of your losses, figuring out how to best memorialize your loved one can be a difficult task. It is a good idea to ask for guidance from friends and others that are not as emotionally tied to the loss. When thinking of what to write on the headstone of your loved one, there are a few routes you can take. You can write a nice epitaph, a quote, scripture reference, or possibly most unorthodox, maybe even a riddle. Depending on the personality of your loved one, a riddle would make for a different type of headstone.
Use a Riddle on a Memorial Stone
One idea is to put a short riddle about something or or somebody to memorialize them. This is a great way to peek a passerby’s interest about the one who has passed on. You can make up a riddle that describes your loved one, or you can choose a popular riddle that has an answer that you want.
A Riddle Format
In order to create your own riddle to put on the memorial stone, here are some things you can do to write one.
1. Come up with the answer to the riddle– it is important that you answer the riddle before you write it. In this case, you can think of relational words like: husband, sister, mother, wife, father, brother, son, daughter. Maybe you will make the answer to the riddle the name of your loved one. You could choose to make the answer a personality trait such as: happy, fun, exciting, content, honest, or trustworthy to name a few. Once you have an answer, then you have a concept in which to focus on.
2. Write down descriptive words of the answer– for example, if you chose the name of your loved one as the answer, then write down words that describe your loved one. If you chose a characteristic such as trustworthy, write down descriptive words of trustworthy, including your loved one.
3. Rephrase your description– now that you have a description of the answer, you need to reword the description in a riddle sort of way. You can use a thesaurus to spark creative ways to state your description of the answer.
4. Turn your phrase into a riddle ending with the words, “Who am I?”- once you have come up with the riddle, be sure to end the riddle correctly.
5. Ask someone else if the riddle makes sense– get feedback about the riddle you created to be sure that it is clear.
Regardless of how you choose to memorialize your lost loved one, it is important that you honour them in some way. Whether you choose to write a riddle on a memorial stone and place it in a memorial garden, or if you plant a tree in their remembrance, it is important to remember them.