I felt so strongly about this that after my Westie, Ludwig, passed away in 2005, I held an All-Pets Memorial for him and the animal companions of some 30 human friends. A friend was so moved by the experience, she said, “Sid, you should write a book on how to memorialize our pets.”

Several years later (this August, in fact) I published “Good Grief: Finding Peace After Pet Loss” to cover that and myriad other aspects of pet loss. In it, I include personal and professional insights on the animal lover’s unique grieving process and share stories from pet parents the world over, too.

Sadly, just after I turned in my pages to the designer, my wonderful boy Westie Mortimer died. He became the book’s poignant epilogue and proved to me that all I learned in researching and writing this book really DID HELP me in mourning his passing.

I hope those who are hurting and in need of some comfort and guidance will consider checking out my book along with the several other helpful publications available.

What’s more, they can listen to my various radio interviews archived on my blog as a sort of preview to see if my work would be a good fit for them. They can visit the blog via my website at goodgriefpetloss.com.

My sincerest condolences and empathy to those who are suffering this singular type of anguish at this time.