memorial lite by The History of a Family

sometimes you experience a feeling of loss which seems undeserved: a relative you hardly knew, a co-worker you'd never actually seen, a cashier at the grocery store. in these cases it can happen that you're left to grieve imperfectly. you know that your distance would make full blown mourning inappropriate and grossly performative. and yet you feel a human obligation to reflect.

enter "memorial lite."

unlike true grief, "memorial lite" is a mechanism you can use to explore tender emotions of loss while respecting the individuality of those who you have not-truly-known. it is a ritual of cherishing your own mundane experiences and showing the restraint to avoid fictionalizing others.