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.

What Do the Stripes on the American Flag Mean? History, Symbolism, and Proper Use at Graves

What Do the Stripes on the American Flag Mean? History, Symbolism, and Proper Use at Graves

When you walk through a cemetery on a national holiday and see row after row of small American flags fluttering above headstones, the sight can catch in your throat. Those...

Christianity and Pets: Will I See Fido in Heaven?

Christianity and Pets: Will I See Fido in Heaven?

When a beloved dog or cat dies, the grief is rarely “small.” It may show up in all the ordinary places your pet used to be: the quiet corner where...

Dreaming of Your Deceased Pet: Psychology or Visitation?

Dreaming of Your Deceased Pet: Psychology or Visitation?

When a beloved animal dies, grief does not stay neatly contained in daylight hours. It often follows you into the night, showing up in vivid images: your dog racing down...

Do Animals Have Souls? Perspectives from Different Religions

Do Animals Have Souls? Perspectives from Different Religions

Why this question surfaces when a pet dies For many families, the first time they seriously ask whether animals have souls is not in a philosophy class or a theology...

Taxidermy and Preservation: Is It Creepy or Comforting?

Taxidermy and Preservation: Is It Creepy or Comforting?

When a pet dies, most families today are offered cremation almost by default. You may be handed a brochure about pet cremation urns, see options for pet urns for ashes,...

What Pet Ashes Look Like: Color, Texture, and What’s “Normal”

What Pet Ashes Look Like: Color, Texture, and What’s “Normal”

Receiving your pet’s cremation ashes can be an unexpectedly profound moment. The box or urn in your hands is more than just a container; it holds the physical trace of...

Memorial Tattoos and Body Art: Symbol Ideas, Safety, and Emotional Considerations

Memorial Tattoos and Body Art: Symbol Ideas, Safety, and Emotional Considerations

When someone you love dies, the need to keep them close does not disappear just because the service is over. For some people, that closeness lives in cremation urns for...

Cultural Differences in Grieving and Funerals: Learning from Traditions Around the World

Cultural Differences in Grieving and Funerals: Learning from Traditions Around the World

Grief touches every human life, yet the way we express it can look profoundly different from one culture to another. When someone we love dies, we reach for rituals that...

Best Funeral Poems and How They Fit with Cremation Urns, Ashes, and Everyday Grief

Best Funeral Poems and How They Fit with Cremation Urns, Ashes, and Everyday Grief

When someone dies, the questions come in layers. There are the practical ones about paperwork, phone calls, and funeral planning. There are the financial ones, like how much does cremation...

American Flag History and Meaning: Stars, Stripes, Colors, and Flag Etiquette

American Flag History and Meaning: Stars, Stripes, Colors, and Flag Etiquette

The American flag is more than a piece of fabric; it’s a living symbol of our nation’s identity, values, and history. Imagine a quiet morning at a cemetery: a veteran’s...

A Faith-Based Look at Whether Dogs Go to Heaven When They Die

A Faith-Based Look at Whether Dogs Go to Heaven When They Die

If you’ve ever held a dog in your arms during their final moments, you know a particular kind of heartbreak. The house feels quieter. The daily routines that once revolved...

Patterns and Symbols on Cremation Urns: What They Mean and How to Choose One

Patterns and Symbols on Cremation Urns: What They Mean and How to Choose One

Choosing a cremation urn is about much more than color and size. The patterns and symbols on an urn quietly tell a story about the person you love, what mattered...

The Meaning of the Color Red in Grief, Funerals, and Memorials

The Meaning of the Color Red in Grief, Funerals, and Memorials

Updated: November 20, 2025 The meaning of the color red becomes especially powerful in seasons of grief. Red can feel like love, warmth, and courage, but also like longing, pain,...