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.

Ambiguous Loss: Grieving When There’s No Body, Clear Ending, or Traditional Funeral

Ambiguous Loss: Grieving When There’s No Body, Clear Ending, or Traditional Funeral

When someone is gone—but not fully gone in the way our brains expect—grief can feel like it has nowhere to land. There’s no hospital discharge summary, no funeral date that...

When a Death Is Expected After a Long Illness: Fatigue, Relief, and Complicated Emotions

When a Death Is Expected After a Long Illness: Fatigue, Relief, and Complicated Emotions

When someone you love has been ill for a long time, the idea of their death can hover in the background for months or years. You may have braced yourself...

Creating a Ritual: Lighting a Candle Every Monday

Creating a Ritual: Lighting a Candle Every Monday

The first Monday after a pet dies can feel strangely loud. The weekend is gone, routines restart, and the places your companion used to “be” in the week suddenly stand...

Journaling Prompts to Help Process the Loss of a Companion Animal

Journaling Prompts to Help Process the Loss of a Companion Animal

The day you bring your pet’s ashes home is often quieter than you expect. Not quieter emotionally—just quieter in the house. The leash still hangs by the door. The water...

Men and Pet Loss: Breaking the Stigma of Male Grief

Men and Pet Loss: Breaking the Stigma of Male Grief

He didn’t cry at the vet’s office. He stood straight, signed the paperwork, carried the leash out like it still had a job to do—and then he drove home with...

Phantom Noises: Why You Still Hear Their Nails on the Floor

Phantom Noises: Why You Still Hear Their Nails on the Floor

It’s strange what silence does after a pet dies. The house is still the same, but the soundscape has missing pieces—no rhythmic click of nails across tile, no collar jingle...

The "What If" Loop: How to Stop Replaying Their Final Moments

The "What If" Loop: How to Stop Replaying Their Final Moments

The house is quieter than you expected. Not just because the tags aren’t jingling or the nails aren’t clicking down the hallway—but because your mind has filled the silence with...

Crying for Weeks After a Pet Dies: Is It Normal? What Does Healing Look Like?

Crying for Weeks After a Pet Dies: Is It Normal? What Does Healing Look Like?

Losing a pet can feel like losing a part of yourself. The grief that follows is often intense, overwhelming, and persistent, and it is common to find yourself crying for...

Nature-Based Rituals for Grief: Walks, Water, Trees, and Simple Outdoor Practices

Nature-Based Rituals for Grief: Walks, Water, Trees, and Simple Outdoor Practices

Grief can make the world feel too loud and too small at the same time. People talk to you, schedules keep moving, and yet your mind returns—again and again—to one...

When a Loved One Dies by Suicide: Compassionate Guidance, Language, and Support Resources

When a Loved One Dies by Suicide: Compassionate Guidance, Language, and Support Resources

The moment you learn that someone you love has died by suicide, time can feel split in two. There is the “before” where you were simply living your life, and...

Coping with the Quiet House After a Pet Dies: How to Adjust to the Silence

Coping with the Quiet House After a Pet Dies: How to Adjust to the Silence

There is a particular kind of silence that settles over a home after a pet dies. It is not the ordinary quiet of a house at night or the stillness...

Finding a Pet Loss Counselor: What Credentials to Look For

Finding a Pet Loss Counselor: What Credentials to Look For

When a pet dies, the grief can be as sharp and disorienting as losing a close family member. In today’s world, where most U.S. households now include at least one...

Pet Loss for Highly Sensitive People: Why Grief Hits So Hard

Pet Loss for Highly Sensitive People: Why Grief Hits So Hard

When a pet dies, some people feel sad and then slowly find their footing again. For others, especially those who recognize themselves as highly sensitive, the loss can feel like...

How to Journal Through Pet Loss: Prompts, Practices, and Healing Techniques

How to Journal Through Pet Loss: Prompts, Practices, and Healing Techniques

When a beloved animal dies, the world can feel strangely off-balance. You might still catch yourself listening for paws in the hallway, glancing at a favorite spot on the couch,...

Grieving the Loss of a Pet: Why It Hurts So Much and How to Cope Day by Day

Grieving the Loss of a Pet: Why It Hurts So Much and How to Cope Day by Day

There are moments in grief when loss hits with such force that the world suddenly feels unfamiliar, quieter, and fragile. Losing a pet can bring you to that place before...

Grieving a Pet While Living Alone: Filling the Silence With Compassion

Grieving a Pet While Living Alone: Filling the Silence With Compassion

Living alone while grieving a pet creates a uniquely quiet form of loss because the relationship was woven into the physical fabric of daily life. Pet loss in solitude changes...