Loyal Pet Loss

Meet Sid Korpi, an all around talented lady. She is an editor, writer, journalist, English teacher, actor, and ordained minister/animal chaplain.  I came to know her because of her wonderful book “Good Grief: Finding Peace After Pet Loss“.  She was inspired to write this book after the loss of her beloved Westie Ludwig.

I have written previous post about how to deal with grieving and pet loss and have recommended several other books, but I realized that even though I don’t have human children, I offered up books to help you help you’re kids make sense of the loss of their furry companion.  It wasn’t until I read Sid’s book, that it really dawned on me that as adults, we seem to just try to ignore our pain often in isolation because society some how says we’re being silly. She notes, “Unfortunately, our society on the whole discounts their grief as frivolous since they’ve ‘merely lost an animal.’ ”

In this very insightful book, she address the loneliness felt, and the lack of understanding by family and friends during our time of mourning.  She   says “People often report that they got over the death of a fellow human being easier than they did that of their pet simply because they were given permission to really grieve over the human and thus found the support they needed to process those feelings. This same support is often sorely lacking when the intense feelings of sorrow are a result of pet loss.”

Along with addressing topics in her book for the All-Important Grieving Process like: “The Price of Pain Avoidance”, “Knowing What to Expect Can Help”,  ”The Euthanasia Process” or  “When Other People Let You Down”, the book is also filled some really wonderful Submitted Stories.  Some make you smile, some make you cry, some both.  But what it does is to let you know you’re not alone in your feelings.

By the end of this book, you will begin the process of healing.  You’re not alone and you’re not crazy for feeling the way you do.  Thank you Sid for taking the time to help us mere humans get through, for some of us, what is the most profound loss we have ever felt.  I highly recommend this book!