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.

Prayers for Grieving Pet Owners: Words for When You Don’t Know What to Say

Prayers for Grieving Pet Owners: Words for When You Don’t Know What to Say

Pet loss has a particular kind of silence. The house sounds different. The routines you didn’t realize you depended on—morning paws on the floor, a familiar meow at the door,...

Anticipatory Grief for a Terminally Ill Pet: Managing Heartbreak Before the Goodbye

Anticipatory Grief for a Terminally Ill Pet: Managing Heartbreak Before the Goodbye

Anticipatory grief is a particular kind of heartbreak: the grief that begins before a loss fully arrives. With a terminally ill pet, it can feel like you are living in...

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

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...

Where Do Dogs Go When They Die? Faith-Based Perspectives and Gentle Comfort for Dog Lovers

Where Do Dogs Go When They Die? Faith-Based Perspectives and Gentle Comfort for Dog Lovers

When a dog dies, grief rarely arrives as a neat, single emotion. It comes as a wave that hits at odd moments: when you reach for the leash out of...

Coping With Pet Loss: A Compassionate Guide for the First Days and Weeks

Coping With Pet Loss: A Compassionate Guide for the First Days and Weeks

The first days after a pet dies can feel unreal—like your body is moving through normal time while your heart is still stuck in the moment everything changed. You might...

Grieving a Pet in Secret: What to Do When You Feel Ashamed of Your Grief

Grieving a Pet in Secret: What to Do When You Feel Ashamed of Your Grief

There’s a particular kind of loneliness that can settle in after a pet dies—one that doesn’t come only from the empty bed, the quiet hallway, or the way your body...

Pet Keepsake Urns and Small Pet Memorials: Sharing Ashes, Photo Urns, and Mini Keepsakes

Pet Keepsake Urns and Small Pet Memorials: Sharing Ashes, Photo Urns, and Mini Keepsakes

When a pet dies, it’s common to think you’ll make the memorial decisions right away—choose an urn, choose a spot, choose the words. But grief doesn’t move in neat steps,...

Designing a Digital Memorial Page that Includes Both Human and Pet Loved Ones

Designing a Digital Memorial Page that Includes Both Human and Pet Loved Ones

Most families don’t set out to create a “combined” memorial. It usually starts with something simple: you want a place where your aunt can share a photo of your dad,...

Visiting the Vet, Park, or Favorite Spot After a Pet Dies: Handling Grief Triggers

Visiting the Vet, Park, or Favorite Spot After a Pet Dies: Handling Grief Triggers

There are some places you expect to hurt after a pet dies, like the quiet corner where their bed used to be, or the kitchen floor where you still instinctively...

Private vs Communal Pet Cremation: Pros, Cons, Cost Differences, and Which Option Returns Ashes

Private vs Communal Pet Cremation: Pros, Cons, Cost Differences, and Which Option Returns Ashes

When a pet dies, the house can feel strangely rearranged. The familiar sounds are missing. The routine you built together—food bowls, walk times, the soft weight at the foot of...

Pet Cremation Jewelry Guide: Necklaces, Charms, and Diamonds—How to Choose and Buy Safely

Pet Cremation Jewelry Guide: Necklaces, Charms, and Diamonds—How to Choose and Buy Safely

When a pet dies, the world can feel strangely ordinary around you. The mail still arrives. The dishes still need washing. And yet everything is different—because the small, constant presence...

Coordinating Pet and Human Ashes: Shared Scattering, Joint Memorials, and Future Planning

Coordinating Pet and Human Ashes: Shared Scattering, Joint Memorials, and Future Planning

There are some questions families don’t expect to face until they’re already carrying them. One of them is what it means to honor more than one set of ashes in...

What to Say to a Coworker Who Lost a Pet: Messages, Card Examples & Respectful Boundaries

What to Say to a Coworker Who Lost a Pet: Messages, Card Examples & Respectful Boundaries

There are losses people expect work to “understand”—a parent, a spouse, a child. And then there are losses that can feel strangely invisible in the workplace, even when they’re enormous...

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

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...

When a Service Dog Dies: Grief, Identity Changes, and Practical Next Steps for Handlers

When a Service Dog Dies: Grief, Identity Changes, and Practical Next Steps for Handlers

When people say “I’m sorry for your loss,” they often picture a pet who slept at the foot of the bed or greeted you at the door. When a service...

Aquamation for Pets: Cost, Step-by-Step Process & Environmental Considerations

Aquamation for Pets: Cost, Step-by-Step Process & Environmental Considerations

If you’ve ever found yourself thinking, “I want to do what’s gentlest for them,” you’re not alone. In the same way families have increasingly chosen cremation for humans because it...