Thank you for joining us.

If you visit my place one of the things you’ll see in my “living room” is a large mural of an autumn scene in the woods covering one whole wall. There’s a reason I chose that image.

That image of the woods represents everyone’s grief journey. There is no path, no sign posts, everyone’s path is different through the trees until you come out into the sunlight of the meadow once we’ve accepted our loss.

Thank you for joining us at yesterday’s Healing Hearts workshop. The number of people who were part of our gathering and the variety of animal companions we brought with us in our hearts speaks to the growing acceptance of our pets as a vital part of our daily life and deserving of the respect of grief when they’ve passed.

The communion of feelings we shared in that time helped us all heal our hearts a little more and move closer to the meadow of acceptance of our loss.

While our usual speaker, Elizabeth Babcock, was unable to give her presentation because of laryngitis, I am also glad you found my reading of her words acceptable. I have heard them many times through the years but I can never hear them often enough, and was honored to present them to you in her place.

Thank you for taking the roses and candles as you left. I hope they bring you comfort in the weeks and months to come.

The mural in my “living room” at Chartiers Custom Pet Cremation.