It has been about a year since the COVID-19 pandemic began affecting my own life. It is hard to remember what the normal used to look and feel like. I also lost many friends in 2020 for reasons other than COVID-19. These losses brought back my old griefs, too.
What should I do with these feelings? I decided to create some memorials and also look at what I have created to process my griefs in the past. As I share them on this post, I hope that you will feel inspired to create your own memorial as part of your grieving process.
We hardly gathered with friends or traveled during the pandemic. Many events were cancelled. I do not have pictures of memories that did not happen. So, I ripped out some images from magazines. As I created the collage, it felt like the year of broken dreams.We enjoy going back to Japan from time to time to visit our family and friends. The pandemic made it not safe to travel to Japan, particularly because our family there is aging. I cut old photos in my parents’ old albums to create a collage. I do not know these people, but they remind me of my native country I have not visited for a while.My mother died in 1994, but her memories came back many times during the pandemic. She grew up in the southern part of Japan near the ocean and enjoyed swimming. I held up her photo between two rocks and scattered rocks and a sand dollar fossil found at the beach on a plastic disposable sandwich tray. It felt like building a zen garden. She hardly talked about her life. I wish I could have known her better. I wrote about finding her notes in an unexpected place here.My youngest daughter and I have been spending a week on a tiny island in the summer for the last several years. In 2019, I created this art with found objects, glue, and paints. It was my expressive arts work to say good bye to the beautiful place and our wonderful time. We did not know that we would not go back there in 2020. We don’t know if we can go there in 2021. I created this Container of Self as part of an Expressive Arts Therapy class a few years ago. Along with rocks, shells, and other things, I included my father’s cremains (bones and ashes) and my mother’s old yarn to honor their memories living in me. Three Japanese incense sticks signify our family of three. I am the only one left now. You can read more about this art here.
Finally, when my father was dying in 2012, I took many photos, feeling guilty but also wanting to preserve my memories. After I came back to the U.S., I improvised on the piano and added many photos to create a music video in a tribute to him. I cried through the process, and cried more watching it again and again. I wrote about my grief after his death here.
Accompanist for the Soul 
Good work!
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