Columnist Lincoln Andrews writes for OnlySky on the secular memorial rituals he performs for his son, Josh:
As a secularist, I don’t have the faux comfort of a heavenly reunion to fall back upon. As a realist, I accept that everybody, save the very famous, is forgotten within two generations. (Got a deep reservoir of great-grandparent anecdotes? I didn’t think so.) As a human with a squishy 3-pound collection of gray and white matter in his cranium, my powers of recall are leaky.
Within these parameters of “fallible secular realist”, I embrace remembrance as an act of love and a discipline. For me, this involves remembering Josh in ways that honor him and are authentic to who he was.