Memorial Cache?

[+Sioneva]

I've been thinking of trying to create a memorial cache in honor of a close friend who died last week. But I'm not sure where to begin on this, or what sort of things to place in the cache. Has anyone ever done a similar cache, and be willing to give some tips?

[Clan Riffster]

Memorial caches are a great way to bid farewell to a lost friend. Take some time to think about their life. What did they enjoy doing? Maybe fill the cache with items related to that hobby. What kind of places did the enjoy? Place your hide in a similar spot. In your cache write up, tell the community about your friend. Let us get to know him/her.

[+Team Perks]

I designed the cache page for this cache, in honor of a fellow cacher and friend who died last year.

 

In my opinion, a simple write-up and a photo usually say the most.

[+Wile E. Dragonfly]

My first cache was a memorial for my dog. It took people to the parks that he loved and included pictures of him in the final cache. Dog related trade items are in it, too. It's been well recieved and is actually pretty theraputic for me. It's nice to know that he's still interacting with people, he always was a people dog. I personally think it's a great idea and for me, a better memorial than a tombstone. I've also seen (on line only) TBs of peoples cremains... a bit stranger, but...

 

My dog's cache is: GCWHE4

 

Good luck!

[+The Leprechauns]

Memorial caches are a great way to bid farewell to a lost friend. Take some time to think about their life. What did they enjoy doing? Maybe fill the cache with items related to that hobby. What kind of places did the enjoy? Place your hide in a similar spot. In your cache write up, tell the community about your friend. Let us get to know him/her.

This is an excellent summary. For an example which I hope meets this test, see The Elves Join the Badger Patrol. This tribute to a departed geocacher is part of a series of "Badger Patrol" caches hidden in several states where geocachers' lives had been touched by a very special person who did much for our game.

[+Sioneva]

Thanks for the help! I'm definitely going to do one, but take my time and not rush into it. I want it to be just right, and a lot of fun for anyone finding it, too.

[+briansnat]

My very first cache was a memorial to a family friend who died on 9/11. I put a few things inside that he liked (including a few cigars which are no longer allowed) and a laminated obituary. It will see its 5th anniversary in exactly one month.

 

Unfortunately I also placed another memorial cache not long ago for a local geocacher who passed away. It was the same thing, stocked with some things he liked and a laminated obituary inside. I also made sure to place it in the kind of spot he would have chosen for a cache.

 

One tip is not to get too heavy with your text. Realize that (unless the person was known to the geocaching community) most people don't know the person you are memorializing. You don't want to make people uncomfortable. All you need is a short, upbeat paragraph that might summarize the person and celebrate his (or her) life.

[+Tsmola]

I lost my brother back in Novemeber and hid 2 in his honor. He wasn't a cacher, but he loved the area where these are hidden. I hid Wild One before the funeral on a walk in the area that he loved so much. Shortly thereafter though I felt he deserved something more so I hid Nautical Star

 

The part I like most about Nautical Star is that we were able to get a memorial bench put in place near stage 1 that has the star on it. It ties in nicely to the cache, everyone who has seen the bench has enjoyed it, there's a pic of it in the cache gallery, I have to add one to the page.

[+GreyingJay]

One tip is not to get too heavy with your text. Realize that (unless the person was known to the geocaching community) most people don't know the person you are memorializing. You don't want to make people uncomfortable. All you need is a short, upbeat paragraph that might summarize the person and celebrate his (or her) life.

 

Wise words. The key is "upbeat" and "celebrating".. without being disrespectful or insensitive, geocaching is still supposed to be a lighthearted and fun activity. There's a thread going on in the Canada forums right now about a cacher who recently died in a car accident. I'm amazed at all of the positive words and fun stories that SO many people are leaving. I can only hope to have that kind of an impact on people before my time is through. I never even met the guy, but by the time I got to page 3 of the thread I was crying (I think the post that did it was the goodbye letter from his son, who joked that his dad was probably already up to 300 caches in heaven).

 

You don't want people to cry for the person in a memorial cache. You want them to smile for having the opportunity to get to know that person a little bit.

[+Wile E. Dragonfly]

Another thing that my husband and I did on my dog's one year passing anniversary was to take the day off and go caching... In the caches, I left a note and a coupon for $2 at Wendy's (the cheapest coupon I could find) to buy frenchfries. My dog loved fries, so I started the annual "Random Day of French Fries". The note explained why and asked that the finder love on their family and enjoy some fries on me. So far, I've not gotten any feedback from this, it's been a month, but it was still fun and happy. We'll continue the tradition on next year... eventually, my grandkids will be asking why we give french fries out to strangers every Aug. 4, and I'll have to explain... but it won't be a sad day, it's a good day if you can eat fries!