Honoring a Pet After Loss with a Memorial Tree

Grieving the loss of a pet is never easy… it can feel heavy, isolating, heartbreaking. When we lost our dog last year, we felt a hole in our lives where she had once been.  Coming home from work felt different without her there to greet us from her cozy bed. She wasn’t at our feet during dinner, casually waiting for treats or an ear scratch.  And she wasn’t there in the quiet moments, when we just want to cuddle and pet her for a while.

After she crossed the rainbow bridge, we went through the motions… cleaning and storing her blankets and bedding, donating her food and treats to others, but we also took time to reflect on a life full of love and joy.  Our family and friends expressed their condolences, which provided some comfort, but the heaviness remained.

A few days after she passed, we received an email from Remembrance Forest, letting us know that a coworker had purchased a Memorial Tree Planting in honor of our dog, along with a simple message expressing their sympathy for our loss.  That simple, yet meaningful gesture, was incredibly heartfelt and considerate to us in our time of grief.  Knowing that there would be a native tree planted in a protected area for her put a wistful smile on our faces.  While the coworker did not choose a specific native tree species, we like to think that there will be a dogwood planted for her, both because it is a DOGwood, and because our backyard has a dogwood tree that blooms beautiful flowers each spring and provided her with shade in the summer.

In time, the grief and heartache have softened, but have not entirely gone away.  Knowing that there is a tree especially for her out there, is but another step on the path of healing and we are very grateful.

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Remembrance Forest would like to sincerely thank E.H. for their guest blog post about receiving a Memorial Tree Planting after the loss of their dog last year.  A Memorial Tree Planting is a thoughtful and simple way to show somebody you care and are thinking about them during their time of grief, whether that's for a parent, sibling, cat, dog, or other companion. 

When words aren’t enough, let nature speak.