Honoring your beloved

[K.D.]

How is everyone honoring their pet? I’m desperately searching for some way to honor him and give him a legacy. I guess the event is still too fresh because everything I can think of to do seems like a painful reminder, not a tribute. 

[MartyT]

When my beloved Tibetan terrier died (Saying Goodbye to Beringer) I made a list of all the silly names we used to call him. I wrote down every special memory I could think of, so I wouldn't forget them. I spent hours on end sorting through all the pictures I had taken of him throughout the years, and eventually put the best ones into a photo book I made online (I used Snapfish). (Trust me, I am not tech-savvy, but if I can figure out how to do it at a time when I was totally heartbroken, anyone can!) I found a stuffed animal figure that looked like him, and placed his collar and tags around its neck, so I could hold it close and think of him whenever I looked at it. I also set aside a shelf in a bookcase where I displayed my favorite picture of him, a little box with his puppy teeth, a clipping of his fur, the container of his remains and an LED votive candle. You're only limited by your own imagination and willingness to be creative. It's a wonderful way to feel as if you're DOING something with your grief, and honoring your fur baby at the same time. You'll find some other ideas here: Memorializing Pets We Have Lost ❤️

[Gingerlove]

I do find it very difficult too. I have a little area, like a shrine, on the top of a shelf in the living room. There are flowers, a candle lit in the day/night (depending on when the emotions are the strongest), and my dear Ginger... some of my fave photos of him, and as you say sometimes I cry so hard because it seems to be a painful reminder.

There were times when I could not look at that area. And as time goes by, I realize that is what I have of him, now, it is crushing, but not having that area would even be worse.