Memorial tree helps with grieving process
Published 11:03 am Thursday, December 1, 2016
- Missy Granger, left, Karen Brantley with Oak Bluff Memorial Park place messages on the Holiday Memorial Tree inside Tranquility Mausoleum as Caleb Harmon, with Memory Gardens, looks on. Mary Meaux/The News
PORT NECHES — A festive tree inside Tranquility Mausoleum lets the public remember their lost loved ones during the holiday season.
A close-up of the Holiday Memorial Tree inside Tranquility Mausoleum.
Mary Meaux/The News
The Holiday Memorial Tree, sponsored by Oak Bluff Memorial Park, Melancon’s Funeral Home and Memory Gardens, allows visitors a chance to fill out a Christmas card or place a message inside a small clear bulb penned to a lost loved one.
“I think this is a wonderful idea,” Caleb Harmon of Memory Gardens, said while looking at the tree. “I have loved ones here, my father and grandfather.”
Harmon took a few minutes to pen a note to his loved ones and place it on the tree.
Karen Brantley with Oak Bluff Memorial Park writes a message to a deceased loved one to be placed on the Holiday Memorial Tree inside Tranquility Mausoleum on Wednesday.
Mary Meaux/The News
It’s been 14 years since Missy Granger of Oak Bluff Memorial Park, lost her mother.
“This makes me feel like I’m sending her a love message,” Granger said.
Karen Brantley, also of Oak Bluff, said she plans to fill out a message for her father and grandparents. Earlier this week she had a visit from a woman who asked if the Holiday Memorial Tree was up yet.
“She said she was glad we are putting the memory tree up. She just found out about this and has decided to make it a family tradition,” Brantley said.
The Holiday Memorial Tree is open to the public, and the deceased person does not have to be interred at the cemetery.
“You’re family member does not need to be here. This is just a way to help keep their memory alive,” Granger said.
The tree will remain up through the first week of January.
Oak Bluff Memorial Park is at 618 Block St. Port Neches.
