Coleen Ellis, from the Two Hearts Pet Loss Center, is a Guest Blogger for dog insurance provider, Pets Best.
Getting to the celebration of life service, guests walked by a table that held all of those items that were important to Cherokee and her family. The table had her scrapbooks, favorite toys, leash, collar,…. As well as her urn, paw print and fur clipping. Yes, it truly was all about Cherokee.
Playing on the computer was a photo montage of Cherokee and the life that she shared with her family. From her baby photo as a “tiny” St. Bernard to her big girl photos – dressed in Halloween costumes, taking part in the Paws to Read program at the schools with the children, walking the neighborhood, and memory after memory. The mood in the house was somber yet very reflective as everyone held close their own particular memories of Cherokee and what she meant to them; the somber moments being interrupted quite often with laughter as someone relayed yet another story of something that Cherokee had done!
The guests visited and told stories. At one point in the evening, I was honored to deliver the eulogy for the family. Interestingly enough, I was also asked to speak about the importance of having a celebration of life service like what was happening.
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Coleen Ellis, from the Two Hearts Pet Loss Center, is a Guest Blogger for Pets Best Insurance
In a previous blog, we talked about those elements that would make for a memorable ceremony to honor a pet and the life that was shared together. Let’s talk about some very interesting things that other people have been doing as they celebrate the life they shared with their special furry friend.
It was an honor to assist the Rock family as they remembered their St. Bernard, Cherokee. She was, as they called her, their first born, the only “daughter” and big sister to Forrest. Not only did the entire family love Cherokee with all of their hearts but the neighborhood and friends from miles away loved the big St. Bernard too.
Therefore, when she died, not only did the family want to have something to honor Cherokee but the neighborhood cherished the opportunity to come together to celebrate her. Friends flew in from states away, drove in from miles away, and showed up from blocks away; all to be a part of an event to talk about what Cherokee meant to them.
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Coleen Ellis, from the Two Hearts Pet Loss Center, is a Guest Blogger for Pets Best Insurance
Many people wonder what a funeral or ritual ceremony looks like for a pet? While it may sound like a bit of an oddity, trust me, people have been doing it for years. From Marley and Me when the kids were out in the back yard burying Marley and saying their final few words to a child who’s stood by the small grave site of their favorite little varmint and spoke from the heart, a ritual ceremony for a pet is not really anything new.
What might be a new twist is the formalization of a memorial ceremony. With so many people wanting to honor the life they shared with their precious pet, taking the time to reflect, remember and pay tribute to a pet with other friends and family is becoming more and more common.
There are five elements of creating a memorial ceremony for a pet. These elements are:
1) Where will you have the ceremony?
Get creative as a place is chose for the ceremony. Think about those favorite bark parks or river banks where the pet liked to play. Or possibly it is the back yard where the pet spent so many of their days, romping and running.
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Coleen Ellis, from the Two Hearts Pet Loss Center, is a Guest Blogger for Pets Best Insurance
There are endless ideas for permanent memorializing that pet parents are doing to honor their pets, giving them lasting physical pieces to remember their pet and the life that was shared together. Even more than honoring the life that was shared together, these ideas are also about honoring the unique personalities of our pets.
Mentioned in a previous blog was taking a clay or ink impression of your pet’s paw or nose.
Why the nose print of your pet? Because it’ll remind you of all of those kisses shared, the noses of animals are like human being’s thumbprints. The nose is the pet’s unique individual marking!
The paw or nose print will provide you an opportunity to do a variety of memorializing pieces. Some ideas are:
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By Coleen Ellis, pet loss and grief expert, for Pets Best Insurance.
There are so many unique characteristics of our pets. If we could just capture these in a “bottle” and hold them forever, wouldn’t it be wonderful?
When you think about those unique personality quirks of your special pet(s), the question is “how can you sum up these characteristics in one sentence” so that you CAN capture this as a permanent memorialization of the pet and what they brought to your life.
For many people, the use of personalization in memorialization is the perfect way to truly remember their pet’s “dash.” We talked about the dash in a previous blog,…it’s the time between the gotcha/birth date and the birth date. As the author of the poem puts it, it sums up an entire life.
Again, we talked about those various aspects that one might think of when they think of their pet’s dash, from their nicknames to those quirky little sayings that we have when we talk to our pets! All of these things are a wonderful way to record a wonderful reminder of the pet and these memories.
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