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.

Helping Kids Create a Pet Memorial: Simple Crafts and Rituals

Helping Kids Create a Pet Memorial: Simple Crafts and Rituals

When a beloved pet dies, adults often juggle calls to the vet, decisions about funeral planning, and practical questions like what to do with ashes. Children feel the same loss,...

Pre-Grieving a Pet: Coping When You Know Goodbye Is Coming Soon

Pre-Grieving a Pet: Coping When You Know Goodbye Is Coming Soon

There is a particular kind of grief that begins while a pet is still alive. You may be sitting on the floor, stroking an aging dog’s graying muzzle or listening...

Writing a Goodbye Letter to Your Pet: Prompts and Examples to Help You Start

Writing a Goodbye Letter to Your Pet: Prompts and Examples to Help You Start

When you lose a pet, your mind often fills with unfinished conversations. You may replay the last day, wish you had said something different, or feel an ache because there...

Pet Cremation vs. Burial: How to Choose What Feels Right for Your Family

Pet Cremation vs. Burial: How to Choose What Feels Right for Your Family

When a pet dies, the silence in the house is often the first thing you notice. The empty bed, the unused leash, the food bowl that doesn’t need to be...

Traumatic Pet Loss: Coping with Accidents and Unpreventable Tragedies

Traumatic Pet Loss: Coping with Accidents and Unpreventable Tragedies

Sudden loss throws your entire world off its axis. One moment your pet is part of your daily rhythm, the footsteps following you down the hallway, the weight on the...

Do Pets Know They Are Dying? Gentle Thoughts for Worried Pet Parents

Do Pets Know They Are Dying? Gentle Thoughts for Worried Pet Parents

There is a particular kind of quiet that settles over a home when a beloved animal is nearing the end of life. Maybe your dog no longer rushes to the...

How to Cope With the Loss of a Dog: Gentle Steps for the Hardest Goodbye

How to Cope With the Loss of a Dog: Gentle Steps for the Hardest Goodbye

When a dog dies, the world can tilt in ways that other people don’t always see. The bed is still made, the emails still arrive, the traffic still moves—but the...

Pet Loss After a Sudden Death vs. Long Illness: Why Grief Can Feel Different

Pet Loss After a Sudden Death vs. Long Illness: Why Grief Can Feel Different

Losing a pet hurts no matter how it happens. Whether your companion died suddenly in an accident or slipped away after a long illness, the silence they leave behind can...

Celebrating Their Birthday After They’re Gone

Celebrating Their Birthday After They’re Gone

When a beloved pet dies, the calendar does not get the news. Their birthday or “gotcha day” still shows up in your phone, on the family wall calendar, or in...

Planning a Pet Memorial Service: Ideas for Ceremonies at Home, Outside, or Online

Planning a Pet Memorial Service: Ideas for Ceremonies at Home, Outside, or Online

The quiet house feels different without your pet’s gentle presence, the soft padding of paws, the way they curled beside you, the little habits that brought joy to everyday moments....

Understanding Dog Cremation Cost: What to Expect and How to Honor Your Pet

Understanding Dog Cremation Cost: What to Expect and How to Honor Your Pet

"Dogs leave paw prints on our hearts, long after they leave this world." When facing the loss of a beloved dog, thoughts of dog cremation cost may feel secondary to...

Pet Cremation Cost: What to Expect and How to Plan a Loving Goodbye

Pet Cremation Cost: What to Expect and How to Plan a Loving Goodbye

When you’re facing the loss of a pet, your heart is already heavy, and financial concerns may feel secondary, or even overwhelming. Yet the question of pet cremation cost inevitably...

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...

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,...

Losing a Horse: The Grief of Losing a Partner, Not Just an Animal

Losing a Horse: The Grief of Losing a Partner, Not Just an Animal

When a horse dies, the loss rarely fits into simple words. People may say, “I’m sorry about your horse,” as if they are offering condolences for a distant animal kept...

Losing a Reptile or Exotic Pet: When People Don’t Understand Your Grief

Losing a Reptile or Exotic Pet: When People Don’t Understand Your Grief

When most people picture pet loss, they think of dogs and cats. They imagine leashes and litter boxes, wagging tails, and purring bodies. What they often don’t picture is the...