The Story
I love listening to a great story. In fact I love listening to any story. When I was practicing as a funeral director one of my favorite things was listening to the family tell the story of the person's life we were going to be celebrating. By listening to their story, I could better put together a funeral service or celebration of life for them that was going to be meaningful. This continues to be one of my favorite things to do at Forrest Run. When we consult with a family about the actual or impending death of their pet it is an extremely difficult and emotional time. When I take a call over the phone, I hear the familiar "hitch" in the person's voice and I know immediately why they are calling. When a family brings a pet in to Forrest Run, it is almost always accompanied by tears. Sometimes the pet had a wonderfully long and fulfilling life. Sometimes the life was cut too short by an unexpected tragedy. Make no mistake, no matter what type of death, it is always difficult.
Over the years I have found that, just like with the death of a person, it helps to talk about the life of the pet and tell their story. I love hearing the story about the first time you saw your pet. Sometimes, it was when the pet took their first breath. Sometimes the pet "found" you. One would think that the stories start to sound the same after you hear so many. Not so. Every story is unique because every pet is unique. They all have silly things that they do that make up their particular personality. Just like a person.
Just like when a person dies, one of the things that gives us the most comfort when our pet dies, is talking about them. Remembering them and telling those silly stories. It doesn't matter that they have been told many times over. It will help. How do I know this? Because this is what we do. That person who called on the phone with the hitching voice? It is our goal to have the hitch in that voice replaced with a smile or sense of comfort and relief by the time we hang up. The family who brought their pet to us with tears welling in their eyes or streaming down their cheeks? It is our goal, by the time they leave to have those tears replaced by a smile or sense of comfort and relief. How do we achieve this goal? We let them tell us their story.
Come join us on Sunday, September 29th at 2PM for our annual pet memorial service, "Honoring Friendship and Loyalty ", held on the grounds of the Fox Valley Humane Association. We would love to hear your pet's story. See the link to the memorial service information below. http://www.forrestrunpettributes.com/honoring-friendship-and-loyalty-pet-memorial-service/
