It will be near impossible to get to the end of our respective lives and not have grieved. Even if we’re lucky enough to not experience significant personal losses, we can grieve for many different situations – when friends move away, a lost job, or the death of a personally special celebrity. We can also grieve the losses of humanity and our understanding of safety when we read the news. But more than likely we’ll also grieve losses of close personal loved ones – human as well as feline, canine, equine, avian, and reptilian. When these losses happen, it’s important to not let the things we grieve be overlooked – not just for ourselves, but for everyone witnessing the grief.
Some turn their grief into their whole personality and shift their personal or professional goals to address it head on. Some grieve in silence, working through their experience in privacy. Others find themselves doing some measure in between. No matter how each of us expresses grief, no one way is better than another, and as in most things, we can learn from others’ expressions of similar experiences. We grow as individuals and a community when we show each other that grief – however loud or private – is not only valid but can be celebrated. Through this display, we remove the veil of isolation that so often gently enshrouds our hearts, like a dusty forgotten sheet over a couch.
This year for National Grief Awareness Day (on August 30), Urban Animal’s Comfort Animal celebrates and supports any grief experience you may have had as a pet owner. If you want to share, please make a submission by August 26 to comfortanimal@urbananimalnw.com with your pet’s photo, their name, any favorite nicknames, and a brief dedication or favorite memory. We will compile your stories and include them in the launch of our online pet memorial on August 30.
