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.

Explaining Euthanasia to Kids: Scripts for Different Age Groups

Explaining Euthanasia to Kids: Scripts for Different Age Groups

There’s a particular kind of ache that shows up when a family realizes a beloved pet is nearing the end. Adults are often juggling two worlds at once: the quiet,...

How to Plan a Peaceful At-Home Euthanasia: A Step-by-Step Guide

How to Plan a Peaceful At-Home Euthanasia: A Step-by-Step Guide

There’s a particular kind of love that shows up at the end of a pet’s life. It looks like carrying them when their legs can’t do the work anymore. It...

Is My Dog in Pain? Silent Signs Your Senior Pet is Suffering

Is My Dog in Pain? Silent Signs Your Senior Pet is Suffering

If you live with a senior dog, you already know how quietly time changes things. One day they’re leaping into the car without thinking; another day they pause at the...

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...

How to Help a Pet Who Is Grieving a Companion

How to Help a Pet Who Is Grieving a Companion

The first sign is often the quiet. A dog who usually trots to the kitchen when the bag rustles stays curled on the rug. A cat who used to patrol...

Maintaining Bonds After Loss: Continuing Connections and Memory Rituals

Maintaining Bonds After Loss: Continuing Connections and Memory Rituals

The quiet shock of losing a pet is often followed by an even quieter question: What happens to the relationship now? In the days after a goodbye—whether it came after...

Pet Loss and Trauma Responses: When the Grief Feels Overwhelming

Pet Loss and Trauma Responses: When the Grief Feels Overwhelming

There are pet losses that ache in a familiar way—sadness, missing them at the door, reaching for the leash out of habit. And then there are losses that don’t just...

Fostering After Loss: A Bridge Between Grief and Ownership

Fostering After Loss: A Bridge Between Grief and Ownership

The first quiet after a pet dies can feel like a new kind of silence—one that follows you from room to room. You might still pause at the cabinet where...

The Single-Pet Household: Adjusting from a Pack of Two to One

The Single-Pet Household: Adjusting from a Pack of Two to One

There’s a moment many multi-pet families recognize after a loss: you hear the familiar jingle of tags in your memory, but not in your hallway. You look down and expect...

Cat Urn Size Guide: Adult Cats, Kittens & Multiple Cats (Sizing & Keepsake Options)

Cat Urn Size Guide: Adult Cats, Kittens & Multiple Cats (Sizing & Keepsake Options)

The quiet moments after a beloved cat passes can feel heavy, even when their routines were small and familiar, curling into a favorite corner, perching by the window, or quietly...

Choosing Cremation Urns, Pet Urns, And Cremation Jewelry Without Pressure

Choosing Cremation Urns, Pet Urns, And Cremation Jewelry Without Pressure

Most families don’t arrive at cremation urns because they were shopping for a product. They arrive there because they’re trying to make one steady decision in the middle of a...

Pet Urns for Two Pets: Companion Urns, Divided Urns, and Family Sharing Options

Pet Urns for Two Pets: Companion Urns, Divided Urns, and Family Sharing Options

There’s a particular kind of tenderness in this decision. When you’re looking for pet urns for two pets, it often reflects a home that held more than one cherished heartbeat,...

When the Surviving Pet Becomes Clingy: Managing Separation Anxiety

When the Surviving Pet Becomes Clingy: Managing Separation Anxiety

In the first days after a pet dies, grief can make a home feel strangely rearranged. The silence is louder. The routines you didn’t realize were routines—two bowls clinking at...

How to Transfer Pet Ashes Into an Urn: Tools, Tips & a No-Stress Step-by-Step Guide

How to Transfer Pet Ashes Into an Urn: Tools, Tips & a No-Stress Step-by-Step Guide

There’s a particular kind of nerves that shows up when the crematory hands you your pet’s ashes. It’s not just grief. It’s the weight of responsibility, the feeling that you’re...

How to Verify a Pet Cremation Provider: Tracking, Accreditation, Paperwork & Questions to Ask

How to Verify a Pet Cremation Provider: Tracking, Accreditation, Paperwork & Questions to Ask

When you are making aftercare decisions for a beloved pet, the questions you face can feel unexpectedly heavy. Choosing a pet cremation provider is not just about hiring a service,...