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.

Sudden Pet Loss & Panic: Grounding Exercises For Shock, Anxiety & The First Week

Sudden Pet Loss & Panic: Grounding Exercises For Shock, Anxiety & The First Week

There’s a profound emotional shock that accompanies the sudden loss of a beloved pet. One moment, life feels ordinary, refilling a bowl, hearing familiar paws on the floor, and the...

Social Anxiety and Grief: When Being Around People Feels Hard but Isolation Isn’t Helping Either

Social Anxiety and Grief: When Being Around People Feels Hard but Isolation Isn’t Helping Either

Social anxiety and grief can collide in a frustrating way. You may genuinely want support, but the moment someone texts “How are you holding up?” your chest tightens. A funeral,...

Pet Loss After Cancer: Anticipatory Grief, Caregiver Exhaustion, And Healing After A Long Illness

Pet Loss After Cancer: Anticipatory Grief, Caregiver Exhaustion, And Healing After A Long Illness

Grief following a pet’s long battle with cancer is often complex and layered, beginning quietly long before their passing. It can emerge during the weeks or months when life slowly...

Dementia in Dogs: Grieving the Dog Who is Still Physically There

Dementia in Dogs: Grieving the Dog Who is Still Physically There

The first time it happens, you might not even call it “dementia.” It may look like stubbornness, or a new quirk, or a dog having an off day. Your older...

Euthanasia at the Shelter: The Trauma of Surrendering a Sick Pet

Euthanasia at the Shelter: The Trauma of Surrendering a Sick Pet

There are goodbyes that happen in your arms, in a quiet room, with a familiar voice and a hand on warm fur. And then there are goodbyes that happen in...

Losing an Emotional Support Animal (ESA): The Double Hit to Mental Health

Losing an Emotional Support Animal (ESA): The Double Hit to Mental Health

The first thing many people notice after an Emotional Support Animal dies isn’t just the silence—it’s the missing rhythm. The familiar nudge at the edge of the bed. The soft...

Grieving the Loss of a Service Dog: Losing Your Independence

Grieving the Loss of a Service Dog: Losing Your Independence

When a service dog dies, people around you may try to comfort you in the familiar ways: “At least they’re not suffering.” “You gave them a beautiful life.” “You can...

Changing Breeds: Why Switching Might Help Your Grief

Changing Breeds: Why Switching Might Help Your Grief

In the first quiet days after a dog dies, many people discover that grief isn’t only sadness. It’s habit. It’s the sound your body expects to hear at the door,...

Comparing the New Puppy to the Old Dog: How to Stop

Comparing the New Puppy to the Old Dog: How to Stop

There’s a moment many families don’t expect after bringing home a new puppy: you’re standing in the kitchen, the water bowl clinks, a tail thumps against the cabinet—and your mind...

Teenagers and Pet Loss: Validating Their Silent Grief

Teenagers and Pet Loss: Validating Their Silent Grief

A teenager might walk past the empty food bowl without flinching, keep scrolling through their phone, and shrug when you ask, “Are you okay?” From the outside, it can look...

How to Help a Surviving Cat Cope with the Loss of a Companion

How to Help a Surviving Cat Cope with the Loss of a Companion

The first thing most families notice after a cat dies isn’t always the silence. Sometimes it’s the wrong kind of sound: a surviving cat yowling down the hallway at night,...

Grieving a "Soul Pet": Why This Loss Feels Different Than Others

Grieving a "Soul Pet": Why This Loss Feels Different Than Others

There are losses that arrive like weather—hard, undeniable, and shared by everyone around you. And then there are losses that feel strangely private, even when people are kind. The death...

Identity Crisis: Who Am I If I’m Not a "Dog Mom" Anymore?

Identity Crisis: Who Am I If I’m Not a "Dog Mom" Anymore?

For a long time, being a “dog mom” (or “dog dad,” or simply “their person”) wasn’t just something you did. It was the way your days were structured, the way...

Pre-Grieving: Why You Feel Guilty for Thinking About Life After They're Gone

Pre-Grieving: Why You Feel Guilty for Thinking About Life After They're Gone

If you’re caring for an aging or terminally ill pet, you may be living in two timelines at once. In one, you’re still measuring medications, counting breaths, watching appetite, celebrating...

Anticipatory Grief: Why You’re Mourning Before They Are Gone

Anticipatory Grief: Why You’re Mourning Before They Are Gone

You can love your pet fiercely and still find yourself grieving them while they’re curled up right beside you. That contradiction is often the first clue you’re living with anticipatory...

Healing Together: Family Rituals for Pet Loss

Healing Together: Family Rituals for Pet Loss

The first quiet after a pet dies can feel louder than anything. A water bowl sits untouched. The leash hangs where it always did. Someone in the family reaches for...