David Kessler on marking anniversaries after losing a spouse: acknowledge the day, talk about them with people who knew them, do something you both enjoyed together. Call grieving friends on those dates to remind them they're not alone.
After the death. How do I handle anniversaries without my spouse?
The first thing to remember about handling anniversaries without your spouse is to acknowledge that the anniversary still exists. So if you can, whether it's talking about it with a friend, getting a group of friends together to talk about your loved one.
Watching a movie that you two enjoy together, just know the anniversary is still real and still meaningful to you. Also, many people are afraid to call someone in grief on an anniversary, and they're afraid that they will upset the person. But I always encourage people to make that call because we all want to know. On our anniversaries, on our birthdays, on our special days, people still remember our loved ones and our anniversaries. If your mother or father has lost a spouse, call them and talk to them about their anniversary.
