and wanted to share it with you, because it just seems like a wonderful tribute to a beloved pet. The people who have 2 of JC's brothers lost their (almost) 14-year-old Sandra to lymphosarcoma about a week and a half ago. I'd been getting progress reports (and the final bad news) by email. What they did was print up a card on very heavy paper, with a picture of Sandra's face and a poem about dying and being reborn (German translation of an Indian poem) on the front. Inside there's a full color picture of Sandra and a description of her personality, likes and dislikes. On the facing page they have a regular obituary, with birth and death dates, survivors, the date her cremains will be blessed (in a Catholic church, no less - I didn't know that was possible) and then interred (in France - the family is Franco-German). It's a really beautiful card, and I think that just planning, printing, and sending it to friends who understand how much they are grieving for her must be "therapeutic". I know several people who have made up Web sites for departed pets, but this was a first for me.
Maybe the idea will help somebody here deal with their grief.
I've also found my own way of making a lasting tribute to a lost "baby". I'm not into arts and crafts, but about fifteen years ago I saw an ad from a company that prints pictures of pets on backgrounds for needlepoint portraits or hooked rugs, and supplies all the yarn, frames, etc.. (it's virtually fool-proof). I've found that the months spent on working on such a project, portraying a deceased furry friend, allows me to say good-bye gradually, at my own pace, and the picture/rug, when completed, ensures that he or she continues to have a place in our home.
Maybe the idea will help somebody here deal with their grief.
I've also found my own way of making a lasting tribute to a lost "baby". I'm not into arts and crafts, but about fifteen years ago I saw an ad from a company that prints pictures of pets on backgrounds for needlepoint portraits or hooked rugs, and supplies all the yarn, frames, etc.. (it's virtually fool-proof). I've found that the months spent on working on such a project, portraying a deceased furry friend, allows me to say good-bye gradually, at my own pace, and the picture/rug, when completed, ensures that he or she continues to have a place in our home.
