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.

When Your Child Wants Another Pet Right Away: How to Respond with Care

When Your Child Wants Another Pet Right Away: How to Respond with Care

There is a moment many parents are not prepared for: the house still feels painfully quiet after a pet’s death, and a child suddenly asks for another pet right away....

Keepsake Urns and Sharing Urns: When Families Want to Divide Ashes

Keepsake Urns and Sharing Urns: When Families Want to Divide Ashes

When a loved one is cremated, the small, heavy container that holds their remains carries immense emotional weight. Families often realize that a single urn cannot reflect complex relationships, geographic...

When Families Disagree About Euthanasia: Navigating Conflict When a Pet Is Suffering

When Families Disagree About Euthanasia: Navigating Conflict When a Pet Is Suffering

When a pet you love is suffering, the question of euthanasia stops being abstract and becomes painfully real. One person looks at the dog who no longer eats and thinks,...

Parents Losing the Family Pet: Making Space for Their Grief Too

Parents Losing the Family Pet: Making Space for Their Grief Too

The loss of a family pet ripples through every corner of a household, touching hearts in ways that words can scarcely capture, yet parents’ grief often goes quietly unseen and...

Explaining a Pet’s Death to Other Pets in the Home

Explaining a Pet’s Death to Other Pets in the Home

The quiet hits first. The spot where they used to curl up is empty. The soft padding of paws that once echoed through your home is gone. The routines that...

Group Goodbyes: Including Family and Friends in a Pet's Final Moments

Group Goodbyes: Including Family and Friends in a Pet's Final Moments

When a pet is nearing the end of life, time can start to feel strangely stretched and compressed at the same moment. You may be trying to fit a lifetime...

Helping Your Family Agree on When to Adopt Another Pet

Helping Your Family Agree on When to Adopt Another Pet

The quiet of the house feels heavier than usual. A favorite spot on the couch sits empty. The food bowl remains untouched, and the familiar sounds of paws on the...

Pet Loss and Pregnancy or Postpartum: Grieving While Caring for a Baby

Pet Loss and Pregnancy or Postpartum: Grieving While Caring for a Baby

There are seasons of life that feel almost too full for one human heart. Being pregnant or caring for a newborn is already one of them. When a beloved pet...

Balancing Children’s Activities and School with Grief: Attendance, Homework, and Gentle Flexibility

Balancing Children’s Activities and School with Grief: Attendance, Homework, and Gentle Flexibility

On the outside, the morning looks normal. Backpacks by the door, a half-finished cereal bowl on the table, a reminder email from the school about an upcoming project. But everything...

Losing a Pet During a Divorce: The Battle for Ashes

Losing a Pet During a Divorce: The Battle for Ashes

Losing a pet is heartbreaking in any season of life. Losing a pet in the middle of a divorce or separation can feel almost unbearable. You may already be arguing...

When One Person Took Care of the Pet More: Uneven Grief Levels in a Household

When One Person Took Care of the Pet More: Uneven Grief Levels in a Household

In many homes, a pet belongs to everyone in theory, but in daily life, there is often one person whose world is most deeply wrapped around that animal. It’s the...

When You Inherit a Pet: Legal Responsibilities, Emotional Adjustments, and Planning Ahead

When You Inherit a Pet: Legal Responsibilities, Emotional Adjustments, and Planning Ahead

When someone you love dies, you expect to be making decisions about services, funeral planning, and maybe which cremation urns for ashes or cremation jewelry feel right. You may not...

Blending Different Faith Traditions in One Funeral: Practical Ideas and Respectful Compromises

Blending Different Faith Traditions in One Funeral: Practical Ideas and Respectful Compromises

When a family includes Christians and Muslims, a Buddhist son-in-law, a Jewish grandparent, and relatives who now call themselves “spiritual but not religious,” funeral planning can feel less like a...

Ashes at Home: Safety, Etiquette, and Talking with Family About Long-Term Plans

Ashes at Home: Safety, Etiquette, and Talking with Family About Long-Term Plans

Keeping cremated remains at home has become a meaningful and increasingly common choice for many families. More than just a practical decision, it can be a deeply personal way to...

cremation urn on the table

Siblings and Inheritance: Preventing Conflict Over Money, Keepsakes, and Care Decisions

Family dynamics are complex, and they become even more intricate when questions of inheritance arise. Stories unfold not just around bank accounts or property, but around who showed up when...

Hospice vs Palliative Care: How They Differ and How They Support Families Near the End of Life

Hospice vs Palliative Care: How They Differ and How They Support Families Near the End of Life

When a serious illness progresses and terms like “palliative” and “hospice” start appearing in medical discussions, it can feel like a sudden plunge into unfamiliar language at one of life’s...