Bring Back the Mourning Wreath!

The Atlantic Monthly ran a wonderful article some years ago on the merits of Victorian mourning ritual which suggested that maybe the Victorians-- with their black garments, arm bands, hair jewelry, and oil portraits of deceased children hanging in the home--weren't so crazy after all.  Grief is essentially the same separate continent today as it was back then, but with so many families losing someone to COVID-19, publicly announcing the loss on the door could become a sweeping gesture of solidarity.

Which brings us to the mourning wreath. Why not? Some people today have privacy concerns; many are hesitant to even announce a healthy birth. But many of the families we've helped have later confessed that the placement of a mourning wreath or ornament front and center, helped them navigate the strange, spongy quality of life after death, the membrane between inner and outer.

You can order online or create on your own the kind of wreath that expresses whatever you wish to share: dignity, courage, resilience or gratitude. The flowers do not have to be dark or painted black. They can be white as snow or wildly colorful.

Wreaths can be rectangular too, like this Yahrzeit grave marking floral arrangement for Martin Waldman.

Interior designer Valorie Hart placed a Victorian mourning wreath on her front door after her beloved husband's death.

It doesn’t have to be black. Here’s a white lily mourning wreath from the Widowstrength shop on Etsy.com