Memorial Gift Ideas for the Loss of a Best Friend

Losing a best friend is a grief people often underestimate, because there is no official title for it and no bereavement form with a box to tick. A memorial gift for the loss of a best friend should honor the friendship itself: the jokes, the songs, the years. The 11 ideas below work whether you are buying for someone who lost their best friend or for yourself. Our honest top pick is a favorite text thread, framed, because it sounds exactly like them.

Listen to a song made for someone who is missed

This one was made for another family. Yours would carry your friend's name and your stories.

11 memorial gift ideas for the loss of a best friend

1. A favorite text thread, framed. Pick an exchange that sounds exactly like them, typos and all, and have it printed and framed. Usually $30 to $60.
2. A photo book of your years together. From school pictures to the last group photo, with a line under each about where you were. Usually $40 to $80.
3. Matching bracelets for the friend group. A simple band with their initial, one for everyone in the circle. Usually $20 to $50 each.
4. A song about the friendship. Share how you met, the nickname nobody else used, the road trips and the arguments you laughed about later, and Songbond turns it into an original song ($39.90).
5. A yearly dinner on their birthday. Book their favorite restaurant for the same night every year and keep one seat empty. It costs a dinner, and it becomes a tradition.
6. The trip you always talked about. The concert, the beach town, the national park you kept saying you would get to. Take it, and bring a photo of them.
7. A letter to their family. Parents and partners often do not know the friend side of a person. Write down three stories they may never have heard.
8. The record you both wore out. A vinyl copy of the album from your road trips or your dorm room, with a note tucked inside the sleeve. Usually $25 to $40.
9. A plant for the desk. A jade plant or a pothos is hard to kill and can live for decades. Usually $20 to $40.
10. A concert ticket stub, framed. If you went to a show together, frame the stub with a photo from that night. Usually $30 to $60.
11. A card to their mother on their birthday. Every year, send their mom a card that says you are thinking of her child. It costs a stamp.

How to choose when the friend was yours too

If you are grieving the same person, give something you can share. If the loss is theirs alone, keep it personal and small.

• If you shared the friend: the matching bracelets, the yearly dinner or the trip.
• If the loss is theirs alone: the framed text thread, the plant or the song.
• If you want to support the friend's family: the letter, or the birthday card to their mom.

When the grief is not recognized

Bereavement leave usually covers family, not friends. Best friends are left out of the funeral planning and seated behind cousins who barely knew the person. If you are giving a gift to someone who lost their best friend, name the loss plainly in your card: I know how much she meant to you. Ask about the friend by name, and let them talk. Offer to go with them to the service, or to spend the first birthday without their friend together. Being treated as a real mourner can be the gift they needed most.

A song for your friend

Create a memorial song for a best friend. Share their name and the stories that made the friendship, and it is ready within 24 hours. Express delivery gets it to you in about an hour if the service is close.

Also in the Journal: songs for a best friend who passed and songs for the first anniversary of a death.