The Funeral.com Journal

Resources to help you create tributes as unique as the people (and pets) you love. Learn how engraving, photos, colors, and symbols add meaning; discover scattering rituals and at-home memorial ideas. We focus on the details that matter—because small choices can carry a lifetime of comfort.

Sympathy Gifts for the Loss of a Child: 25 Thoughtful Ideas That Go Beyond Flowers - Funeral.com, Inc.

Sympathy Gifts for the Loss of a Child: 25 Thoughtful Ideas That Go Beyond Flowers

When someone loses a child, the usual scripts don’t fit. Flowers arrive, cards pile up, and people say they’re “so sorry,” but the parents’ world has changed shape. In the...

DIY At-Home Memorial Ideas: Create a Meaningful Space to Remember a Loved One - Funeral.com, Inc.

DIY At-Home Memorial Ideas: Create a Meaningful Space to Remember a Loved One

In the first days after a loss, your home can feel unfamiliar. The rooms are the same, but the rhythm is different. You may notice the places where your loved...

Choosing a Cremation Urn for a Child or Infant: Sizes, Materials & Keepsake Options - Funeral.com, Inc.

Choosing a Cremation Urn for a Child or Infant: Sizes, Materials & Keepsake Options

Choosing a child cremation urn or an infant urn for ashes is one of those decisions that can feel unfairly practical at the very moment life feels the least practical....

What to Text Someone Who’s Grieving: Comforting Messages + What Not to Say - Funeral.com, Inc.

What to Text Someone Who’s Grieving: Comforting Messages + What Not to Say

Most people don’t stay quiet after a death because they don’t care. They stay quiet because they care, and they’re afraid of sounding awkward. If you’re searching what to text when...

When Someone Refuses Hospice: How Families Respond Without Fighting - Funeral.com, Inc.

When Someone Refuses Hospice: How Families Respond Without Fighting

When a loved one refuses hospice, the refusal often lands like a second diagnosis in the room. You may feel scared, frustrated, and helpless all at once. You may hear...

Loss of Father Messages: What to Say, What Not to Say (Plus Examples in Spanish) - Funeral.com, Inc.

Loss of Father Messages: What to Say, What Not to Say (Plus Examples in Spanish)

When someone’s dad dies, people often freeze—not because they don’t care, but because they care and they’re afraid of saying the wrong thing. A father can represent safety, history, identity,...

Easy, Healthy Breakfasts for Grief: Simple Meals When You Have No Appetite - Funeral.com, Inc.

Easy, Healthy Breakfasts for Grief: Simple Meals When You Have No Appetite

If you’re searching for breakfast ideas for grief, you’re probably not looking for a Pinterest-perfect morning. You’re looking for something that gets you through the next hour with a little...

Holiday Meals After a Loss: Gentle Christmas Dinner Ideas for Grieving Families - Funeral.com, Inc.

Holiday Meals After a Loss: Gentle Christmas Dinner Ideas for Grieving Families

Holiday meals after loss can feel like walking into a room that used to be warm and familiar, only to realize the air is different now. The calendar says “Christmas,”...

Splitting Ashes Among Family Members: How to Do It Respectfully (and Avoid Conflict) - Funeral.com, Inc.

Splitting Ashes Among Family Members: How to Do It Respectfully (and Avoid Conflict)

Splitting ashes can sound like a purely practical decision until you’re the family actually trying to do it. Then it becomes emotional, fast. One person wants everything kept together. Another...

Helping Kids When a Pet Is Dying: Honest Language That Isn’t Traumatizing - Funeral.com, Inc.

Helping Kids When a Pet Is Dying: Honest Language That Isn’t Traumatizing

When a pet is dying, adults often carry two kinds of grief at once. There’s the heartbreak of watching a beloved companion decline, and there’s a quieter ache underneath it:...

Death Anniversary Ideas: How to Plan a Meaningful Annual Memorial Service (Without It Feeling Overwhelming) - Funeral.com, Inc.

Death Anniversary Ideas: How to Plan a Meaningful Annual Memorial Service (Without It Feeling Overwhelming)

The death anniversary can show up as a simple date on the calendar and still feel like a wave. You may be steady for weeks, and then the week of...

Pet Loss and Sibling Dynamics: When One Child Was “Closer” - Funeral.com, Inc.

Pet Loss and Sibling Dynamics: When One Child Was “Closer”

When a family pet dies, it can feel like the whole household shifts—quiet bowls, unused leashes, a favorite sunny spot that suddenly looks empty. For children, that shift can be...

Talking to Children About Losing a Pet: Age-Appropriate Words and Comforting Rituals - Funeral.com, Inc.

Talking to Children About Losing a Pet: Age-Appropriate Words and Comforting Rituals

For many families, the death of a pet is a child’s first real encounter with grief. Adults often feel two pressures at once: you want to protect your child from...

Explaining Cremation and Burial to Children in Gentle, Honest Language - Funeral.com, Inc.

Explaining Cremation and Burial to Children in Gentle, Honest Language

Most adults don’t struggle to love their children through grief. They struggle to find words that are both true and kind. When a child asks what happens to the body,...

Grief and Holidays for Blended and Multi-Household Families: Scheduling, Traditions, and Fairness - Funeral.com, Inc.

Grief and Holidays for Blended and Multi-Household Families: Scheduling, Traditions, and Fairness

Holidays are supposed to be predictable. Even families who do not agree on much can usually count on the same calendar anchors year after year: a certain meal, a familiar...

Pet Loss &a Neurodiversity: Supporting Autistic Kids With Routine Loss, Literal Language & Sensory Grief - Funeral.com, Inc.

Pet Loss &a Neurodiversity: Supporting Autistic Kids With Routine Loss, Literal Language & Sensory Grief

When a pet dies, adults often expect grief to look like tears, talking, and a gradual “acceptance.” But for many autistic and otherwise neurodivergent kids, grief can show up sideways—through...