When you lose a pet, it’s like losing a close family member. Many of us have pets that have become members of our family and we spend a lot of time and money trying to make their lives the best we can because honestly, they make our lives whole!
About 3 years ago I said good-bye to my very first dog, Abby. She was a Chihuahua, I got her when I was 16 years old. I had wanted a dog for as long as I can remember and my parents finally let me get one when I turned 16. She was MY dog. I cared for her, paid for a majority of her care and supplies and looked after her myself. She became my HEART dog. For those of you that don’t know what a HEART pet is, it’s a pet that is just a little bit extra special. Those of you that have, or have had, a HEART pet you know what I’m talking about!
Abby went through a lot of life changes with me in the 14 1/2 years she was alive. She proved to many people that small dogs are awesome and not all Chihuahuas are yappy. She was just such a cool little dog and my best companion wherever I was or whatever I was doing.
A few years before she passed she was diagnosed with Kidney disease. She took a few turns for the worse in her last year of life and eventually lost her sight about 6 months before she died. Once her sight was gone something in her changed, it’s like a switch flipped and I knew the end was coming.
Fortunately for me, I was able to take time to grieve. I knew her time with me was coming to an end and I was able to spend some special time with her. A week before she passed I knew she was getting ready to go, I cried a lot that week and when I finally made the appointment at the vet to say goodbye it was like she knew it was her time.
Saying goodbye to a pet is HARD but I am so glad I was able to say goodbye. There are so many out there that lose their pets unexpectedly due to an accident or unknown health issue. One moment they are there with you, things seem fine, and the next moment they are gone. I can’t imagine how hard that would be to lose a pet that way. I have multiple friends that have lost pets this way and it is devastating.
When Abby passed I knew I wanted to memorialize her in some way and I had a portrait done of her by Pretty Little Birds Handmade. It has such a likeness to her and I love looking at it to remember her. I also have her little urn with her collar and tag on it that has been on a shelf in my office.
Once we moved to the farm I found that I didn’t really have a place to display her urn and wanted to do something a little bit more special with her ashes. I found Phoenix Ash Memorials, a business local to Saskatoon, that specializes in hand blown glass memorials that incorporate bits of ashes into the blown glass art.
Since Abby was such a sweet, dainty little lady I thought this would be perfect. I had a glass marble made with her ashes, sent in a picture of her and some color suggestions but had the artist come up with the design and final coloring himself. It is such a beautiful piece of art I am proud to display in my house and doesn’t make me feel sad, like when I look at her little urn.
Now that I have these two special pieces to remember her by I plan on taking the rest of her ashes and planting a perennial plant of some kind that makes me think of her somewhere on our farm.
I likely won’t do all of these things for every pet I say goodbye to but I love the idea of honoring each one in a unique way to them.
There are so many options to keep the memories of lost pets alive and everyone will have their own way.
If you have lost a pet before have you had a keepsake created, or created one yourself to honor them? If so, what is it?