The Grieving Process

Your Special Friend

Regardless how old our pets are, they work their way into our hearts, becoming our companions and friends. When your pet needs to be put down or passes away, it leaves an empty place in a family's setting. It isn’t easy to say goodbye.

Grieving is a healthy experience that touches a person physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Don’t be afraid of your grief symptoms. You have experienced a major loss. Grievers often experience anger, extreme sadness, depression, despair and jealousy of other’s who haven’t experienced a loss. Be gentle with yourself as you go through your grief. Grief is the process of healing the wound of your loss. Researchers have found that grieving has distinct phases:

1. The first phase is numbness, shock, denial, or a sense of unreality. Slowly, your mind will adjust to the new reality that you have lost a loved one. This is a difficult time during which thinking about or experiencing your grief may be too painful. The gift you can give to yourself during this phase is patience. You will need time to come to terms with the loss, perhaps as long as several weeks.

2. The next phase is disorganization, personal chaos, trying to adjust to the world without the company of your lost loved-one. During this phase, you become intensely aware of the reality of your loss, but would do almost anything to escape it. Strong emotion and exhaustion occurs during this stage and you may find it difficult to participate in your normal activities.

   The turning point in this phase comes as you gradually begin to understand the implications of your loss and figure out how return back to life without your loved one.

3. The final phase is reorganization, reconciliation, recovery, and acceptance. Although the pain of the loss remains, the unbearably quality of it lifts. Hope returns.

We all know how difficult it is for someone to lose their animal friend.

During the grieving process, Pet Memorials help to bring us closure. This is the reason that Say it in Stones began making Pet Memorials and it is the reason that Pet Memorials have gained in popularity. Our customers order pet memorials as a way to commemorate the life of their special pet.