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.

Where to Find Real-Time Help for Pet Loss: Hotlines, Chats, and Online Communities

Where to Find Real-Time Help for Pet Loss: Hotlines, Chats, and Online Communities

The first hours after a pet dies can feel oddly unreal—like your body is going through normal motions while your heart is in a different room entirely. You might be...

Pet Loss and Complicated Grief: When Healing Feels Stuck

Pet Loss and Complicated Grief: When Healing Feels Stuck

Some losses rearrange your whole life quietly. A dog who used to follow you from room to room. A cat who slept against your ribs like a tiny heartbeat. A...

When Your New Pet Brings Up Grief for the One You Lost

When Your New Pet Brings Up Grief for the One You Lost

Bringing a new pet home after a loss can feel like opening a door you’re not sure you’re ready to walk through. On the surface, it may look like a...

Pet Loss in Blended Families: Shared Pets, Shared Grief, and Complicated Emotions

Pet Loss in Blended Families: Shared Pets, Shared Grief, and Complicated Emotions

In a blended family, a pet can become the one relationship that feels uncomplicated—steady affection, familiar routines, a warm body on the couch that doesn’t care whose weekend it is....

Keeping Your Pet’s Memory Alive in Everyday Life

Keeping Your Pet’s Memory Alive in Everyday Life

In the first days after a pet dies, memory can feel like a wave—beautiful, relentless, and exhausting all at once. You might catch yourself listening for familiar footsteps, reaching for...

What Human Ashes Are Like After Cremation: Appearance, Weight & Safe Handling

What Human Ashes Are Like After Cremation: Appearance, Weight & Safe Handling

If you’re searching for what do human ashes look like, you’re usually holding two questions at once. One is practical: what will the cremated remains look and feel like, and...

Grieving a Pet While Caring for Surviving Animals: Balancing Their Needs and Yours

Grieving a Pet While Caring for Surviving Animals: Balancing Their Needs and Yours

The day a pet dies, the house doesn’t just get quieter—it changes shape. A water bowl still sits in its usual spot. A leash still hangs by the door. A...

Travel-Safe Pet Urns: TSA-Friendly Materials, Screening Tips & When to Use a Temporary Container

Travel-Safe Pet Urns: TSA-Friendly Materials, Screening Tips & When to Use a Temporary Container

If you’re reading this, you’re probably trying to do something that sounds simple and somehow feels enormous: flying with pet ashes without turning the airport into another moment of grief....

Human Ashes 101: Legal, Emotional, and Practical Things Families Should Know

Human Ashes 101: Legal, Emotional, and Practical Things Families Should Know

When the crematory calls and says your loved one is ready to be picked up, most families are surprised by how ordinary that moment can feel. You sign paperwork, you’re...

From Foster to Forever in Your Heart: Grieving the Loss of a Foster Pet

From Foster to Forever in Your Heart: Grieving the Loss of a Foster Pet

There’s a particular kind of ache that comes with losing a foster pet—one that can feel oddly “out of place” in the world’s expectations. Your time together may have been...

Grieving the Loss of a Cat After Euthanasia: Letting Go of Blame and Regret

Grieving the Loss of a Cat After Euthanasia: Letting Go of Blame and Regret

The hardest part about saying goodbye to a cat is that so much of the relationship is quiet. Cats love in glances, in routines, in the soft weight of a...

Is It Okay to Split Ashes? Etiquette, Religious Views, and Practical Tips for Sharing Remains

Is It Okay to Split Ashes? Etiquette, Religious Views, and Practical Tips for Sharing Remains

After cremation, families often expect there will be one “right” next step—choose an urn, decide where it will go, and move forward. In real life, the question is usually softer...

Creating a Goodbye Ritual for Your Pet: Ideas for a Peaceful Final Day

Creating a Goodbye Ritual for Your Pet: Ideas for a Peaceful Final Day

There’s a particular kind of heartbreak that comes with knowing your pet’s time is near. You may be balancing medical decisions, scheduling a euthanasia appointment, watching energy fade, and trying...

Understanding Your Cemetery Contract: Plot Rights, Fees, and Long-Term Obligations

Understanding Your Cemetery Contract: Plot Rights, Fees, and Long-Term Obligations

In a season of loss—or even in the quieter weeks of funeral planning—a cemetery contract can feel like a different language. The phrases look familiar (plot, deed, perpetual care), but...

Traveling with Cremation Ashes: Airline Rules, TSA Guidelines, and Peace of Mind

Traveling with Cremation Ashes: Airline Rules, TSA Guidelines, and Peace of Mind

Traveling with someone’s ashes is one of those tasks that can feel deceptively simple on paper—until you’re actually doing it. You’re juggling logistics and grief at the same time, and...

How to Talk to Teens About the Death of a Pet Without Minimizing Their Grief

How to Talk to Teens About the Death of a Pet Without Minimizing Their Grief

When a pet dies, adults often expect the grief to look “simple”: a few hard days, a small ritual, a gradual return to normal. But teenagers can surprise you. A...