Creating a Memorial for Our Best Friend with a Pet Headstone
Pet headstones are a comforting symbol of a family’s love for its beloved and unforgettable friend. They serve as an eternal reminder of the special times that pets – often treasured as much as other members of a family – bring to any life. But, all that said, pet headstones are often regarded as a strange, or even amusing, curiosity by much of modern culture – even though no one who would chuckle in bewilderment at the idea of a pet headstone would likely ever question that it’s possible to love a pet as a family member. This article will discuss some ideas in support of those who would not laugh at the thought of a pet headstone but, rather, would be inclined to swell with emotion over the thought of a family wanting to capture their special memories for the ages in a perfectly fitting pet headstone.
Pet headstones serve an important psychological function for a family by providing a special place that families can travel to as their emotional needs arise to reflect upon the wonderful memories that a special pet brought to a household. As one customer of the famous Bubbling Wall Pet Memorial Park in California noted in an unsolicited online testimonial for the park, a pet headstone can be often preferable to a pet cremation urn on display in a home because, simply put, the urn – being a permanent part of a home – would be a constant reminder of the pet’s death and all of the temporary-but-negative emotions associated with it. A pet headstone, on the other hand – especially if a visit requires a beautiful drive into the countryside, such as is the case with the owners of pets resting at the Bubbling Wall Park – can become a spiritually uplifting symbol in which smiles and laughter (tearful though they may be) abound as family members look upon it on special occasions, or even just at random times when they feel they need an emotional lift. “Having my remains ashes on a shelf in my home every night would be a depressing experience for me, because it would be a constant reminder of his death. But being able to wake up with a smile on a beautiful Sunday morning and decided to take a drive out to visit my dog again gives me an emotional boost that can last for weeks. Celebrating his life instead of mourning his death makes a huge difference for me and the pet headstone I purchased makes it easy for me to do the former,” the customer said.
Pet headstones, fortunately, are available so that there is literally something for everyone. It is possible to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on an elaborately designed piece that will pay touching tribute to the memory of the pet for decades (or even centuries), but, of course, not every family has the budget for that sort of thing. Many beautifully crafted pieces that will preserve memories for the ages can be found for far less than $100, and a family does not necessarily have to install them in an elegantly landscaped, expensive pet cemetery. Many families have been quite content to cremate their beloved pet and scatter the ashes over some special place, but then install a pet headstone in a back yard as a separate tribute to their friend’s life. If such a pet headstone is installed with mobility in mind – which most can be – then the difficult issues of preserving memories (along with property values) in the event a family decides to move can be addressed quite simply.
Most pet headstones include the beloved pet’s name along with the dates in which he or she lived. But many also feature some special words that will surely bring a smile (albeit, possibly a tearful one) to the face of someone who reads it, even decades after the pet’s time. Such a pet headstone epitaph can be just about anything the mind can conjure up. One funny example on a pet headstone in Montana simply reads, “Bow Wow Wow!” Countless others across the world have messages such as one that reads, “Sparky’s Playful Spirit Will Be Eternally Remembered.” And this fitting verse from the famous poet Lord Byron most certainly graces many pet headstones around the world: “In our gardens repose the remains of those that possess beauty without vanity, strength without insolence, courage without ferocity, and the virtues of man without his vices: our pets.” In short, just about any phrase that has special meaning to the life of a special pet can be a perfect tribute to be used as part of a pet headstone, no matter where the pet headstone is installed.
Finally, our look at pet headstones would not be complete without at least a brief mention of a fitting complementary product that is certainly available as readily as pet headstones: pet caskets. Many families today have opted to purchase a pet casket to be used as part of a fitting memorial ceremony for their pet. Seeing a beloved pet’s remains laid to rest in an elegantly designed casket can be a very comforting experience for a family – particularly one with young children who may not be used to the concept of death – that has suffered a difficult loss.