When Your Pet Dies: A Guide to Mourning, Remembering and Healing

by Alan D. Wolfelt

You don’t get over it; you learn to live with it. You learn to integrate it into your life and into the fabric of your being. You will always, for the rest of our life, feel some grief and sadness over the death of this pet. It will no longer dominate your life, but it will always be there, in the background, reminding you of the love you had for the precious pet that died.

Embracing your memories—both happy and sad—can be a very slow and, at times, painful process that occurs in small steps. But remembering the past makes hoping for the future possible.

the way you define yourself and the way others define you has changed. Adjusting to this change is a central need of mourning.

others because you never “get over” your grief. As you learn to reconcile

You tell yourself that you can and will reach out for support in your grief, and that you will learn to live and love wholly again.

“When you are sorrowful, look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.” As