The role of epitaphs as a summary of our lives

Epitaphs provide those who have passed with a poetic or memorable inscription for those who visit the deceased to remember them by. For those who choose their own epitaphs, they are a way of sending one final and lasting message.

For those who create epitaphs for the deceased, they are a way of remembering what was most important about the deceased. Epitaphs are small, and often personal historical documents.

They are mostly found on headstones, but on other places too, like memorial benches (E.g., The Halifax Memorial Garden).

What would your ideal epitaph say?

• Rest in Peace

• In Loving Memory

• Until We Meet Again

• A Life Measured in Memories

• Beloved Mother/Father, Wife/Husband, and Friend

• Gone But Never Forgotten

• A Lifetime of Laughter and Love

• Friend to Many, Stranger to None

Death doulas like me have a non-funeral scope of practice, yet we do encourage our clients and families to pre-consider what their end-of-life details funeral details include. This may entail decisions about disposal of the body (e.g., cremation, burial), pre-writing an obituary, purchasing and paying for a plot/urn, choosing a headstone and yes, even what epitaph inscription goes on the headstone. I've chosen my epitaph already.

As always, I wish you “a life well lived and a death well planned”.

Janet