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.

Guilt After Euthanizing a Pet: Why It’s So Common and How to Find Self-Forgiveness

Guilt After Euthanizing a Pet: Why It’s So Common and How to Find Self-Forgiveness

If you chose euthanasia for a pet you deeply loved, you may be surprised by how quickly your mind turns love into accusation. You can know—logically—that you were trying to...

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...

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...

Grief and Creativity: Art, Music, and Writing as Healing Outlets (Even If You’re ‘Not Artistic’)

Grief and Creativity: Art, Music, and Writing as Healing Outlets (Even If You’re ‘Not Artistic’)

Grief can make ordinary life feel unfamiliar. Tasks that once seemed simple may now feel overwhelming. Your attention may jump from one thought to another, your energy can plummet, and...

Letters You Never Sent: Writing as a Tool for Grief, Forgiveness, and Unfinished Conversations

Letters You Never Sent: Writing as a Tool for Grief, Forgiveness, and Unfinished Conversations

There are moments in grief when we realize the words we needed to speak will never leave our lips. Perhaps it was love left unspoken, or anger we tucked away...

Cremation, Guilt, and “Did I Do the Right Thing?”: Mental Health Perspectives

Cremation, Guilt, and “Did I Do the Right Thing?”: Mental Health Perspectives

Guilt after cremation can feel surprisingly sharp. It can show up in the quiet hours after the arrangements are finished, after the urn arrives, after the house empties out, or...

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...

Grief and Health: When to See a Doctor About Physical Symptoms Connected to Loss

Grief and Health: When to See a Doctor About Physical Symptoms Connected to Loss

Grief has a way of changing your body before you’ve found words for what’s happening. You might feel it as a headache that won’t quit, a stomach that turns at...

Handling Social Invitations and Events in Early Grief: Saying No, Saying Yes, and Changing Your Mind

Handling Social Invitations and Events in Early Grief: Saying No, Saying Yes, and Changing Your Mind

In early grief, invitations can feel oddly loud. A text lights up your phone, a calendar invite lands in your inbox, a friend asks, “Are you coming?”, and suddenly you’re...

Pregnancy After Loss: Navigating Hope, Anxiety, and Grief When You’re Expecting Again

Pregnancy After Loss: Navigating Hope, Anxiety, and Grief When You’re Expecting Again

If you’re living a pregnancy after miscarriage or you’re pregnant after stillbirth, you may recognize the emotional whiplash that can arrive without warning, sometimes within the same hour, sometimes in...

Grief and Work Performance: Focus, Mistakes, and How to Talk with Your Boss

Grief and Work Performance: Focus, Mistakes, and How to Talk with Your Boss

There is a particular kind of emotional exhaustion that settles in when you return to work after a loss. You may be sitting in the same chair, opening the same...

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...

Appetite Changes After Pet Loss: Why Eating Is Hard & Small Steps That Help

Appetite Changes After Pet Loss: Why Eating Is Hard & Small Steps That Help

The day your pet dies, the world doesn’t just feel quieter. It can feel physically wrong—like your body forgot how to do the simplest things. If you’re dealing with loss of...

Why Losing a Dog Can Feel Worse Than Losing a Relative: The Psychology Behind the Pain

Why Losing a Dog Can Feel Worse Than Losing a Relative: The Psychology Behind the Pain

If you’ve lost a dog and found yourself thinking, “Why does this hurt so much—sometimes even more than losing certain relatives?” you’re not broken, dramatic, or disloyal to your family....

Pet Loss Myths That Hurt the Healing Process

Pet Loss Myths That Hurt the Healing Process

When a pet dies, the grief can feel both obvious and strangely invisible at the same time. Obvious, because your day-to-day life changes immediately: the quiet by the door, the...