The Urn Review

My children’s first encounter with death was when our dog Charlie died. He had developed cancer and needed to be put down. Rather than lying to the children about what happened to their beloved pet, my husband and I decided to tell them the truth, albeit in a way they could understand.

To help them grieve, we assisted them in putting together a memorial service for Charlie. They selected a memorial urn for his ashes and decided to hold the service in the local park where Charlie liked to play. They invited a few of our neighbors and their pets – Charlie’s best friends – and prepared a few words to say about the happiness Charlie brought to our lives. I thought they handled the whole service superbly.

Never in a million years did I think I would turn into a pet person. I hadn’t grown up with pets and being licked and pawed at had always made me uncomfortable. I wrote “had” because one day I was fortunate enough to visit the local humane society with my daughter. As we toured the facility, we learned that many of the dogs and cats are eventually euthanized because there weren’t enough homes willing to take them in.

This, of course, greatly upset my daughter, but to my surprise, it upset me too. The very next day we started the paper work to adopt one dog and one cat. They were in our lives for many years until they passed away. I keep the ashes of my furry children in handcrafted pet urns placed on our mantle. I may not have thought I’d ever be a pet person, but I am so grateful that I became one.