FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND

[defrog]

Today we had a private funeral for our dog Funny, who passed away peacefully two weeks ago.

I won’t show you the photos, in case that sort of thing is triggery, but I can share with you the image we put on her urn.



We didn’t invite anyone – we just spent some time with her, sang some hymns, said some prayers, thanked her for her service and said goodbye.

It was a bit of an experience in itself in that I’ve never even been to a pet funeral, let alone arranged one for one of my own pets. In that sense, a few remarks are in order:

1. The funeral home is waaaaaaaaay up in Yuen Long in the New Territories in an ancient industrial building that looks like it’s been abandoned for years. If the customer service people hadn’t sent us photos showing the entrance we would have thought we’d come to the wrong place.
2. Inside, it was nice. They set up a room for us that we could use for one hour. It was nicely done, and they had her “sleeping” in a basket – which didn't quite work only because Funny had a unique sleeping style in which she curled up like a cat and buried her face in a corner of her bed so deep that we could never figure out how she could breathe. 
3. The cremation ceremony was a bit jarring, as we were present for the placement and they let us flip the switches operating the machine. We didn’t see anything but there was this sudden bright orange firelight reflecting on the wall opposite the door. And, you know, yikes.

Anyway, now we have an urn that is now on display in a columbaria they have in the showroom. She’ll stay there for two months and then we’ll bring her home.

Overall, it was pretty emotional. As you’d expect. But it was good closure – something I’ve not always had with pets who have passed on.

Anyway, I can’t add to what’s already on her urn except … goodbye, Funny.

dF