Former NIU student Summer Adi’s memory is kept in the hearts and on MySpace pages of some students almost a year after she died.

“I write to her still,” said Becki Rottman, sophomore family social services major. “She was one of my best friends. That’s a way I can communicate with her. It’s a way I can look at it and see other people haven’t forgotten about either. I may not know who they are, but we’re still grieving.”

With the emergence of the Internet, people are given the option to mourn their loved ones in cyberspace. Leaving comments on MySpace, Facebook and similar sites has become a common practice among young mourners.

“They keep the memory alive through online resources,” said assistant sociology professor Deirdre Oakley. “It’s a logical step with new technology.”

Many people travel to the World Trade Center still because they know that is where their loved one was last alive, Klein said.

“Sometimes people need to go to the place where their loved one was last alive,” said Daniel Klein, associate professor of allied health professions.

When a person passes away in a car wreck, for example, often people will put flowers at the site of the accident.

“People will keep putting flowers to keep the memory alive,” Oakley said.

Historically, people travel to war-time memorials to mourn fallen soldiers.

“People come from all over the country to look up on the [Vietnam War Memorial] and see their friends’ or relatives’ names and pay respects,” Oakley said.

Commenting on a Facebook or MySpace page is a way for users to express their grief.

“There is a certain amount of shock and disbelief,” Klein said. “Sometimes just seeing the words help break away from the denial that this happened.”

Writing a message to a deceased friend online may help channel out words and emotions that come with grieving, Klein said.

“It may be on the Internet, but it’s not really any different [than any other form of grieving],” Oakley said. “When people go through the grieving process, one of the things that helps people go through is talking about the person. It doesn’t have to be an Internet environment.”

Whether it’s placing flowers at the scene of an car accident, visiting a memorial or talking with friends in real life or online, experts say it is all part of the same process and are simply different grieving mediums.

“Everyone has a mission, and you may not know what that is, but once it’s fulfilled, God takes you. That’s how I look at it,” Rottman said. “God wouldn’t have taken her unless he needed her.”