Finding Comfort after Losing Your Pet

 

 

Table of Contents from Saying Goodbye to Your Angel Animals: Finding Comfort After Losing Your Pet by Allen and Linda Anderson (New World Library, 2008). All Rights Reserved.

 

 

Contents

Introduction  -- Friends at the Rainbow Bridge

Your Partners in Grieving  •  You Have History  •  You Have Friends Who Understand  •  The Rainbow Bridge  •  Rainbows and Bridges  •  How This Book Is Designed  •  Meditation: How My Life Would Have Been Different  •  Meditation: The Rainbow Bridge Reunion

Rainbows – The Colors of Saying Good-Bye

Chapter One: Rainbow Blue – Organic Grieving

Organic Grieving  •  Rainbow Blue  •  Phases of Organic Grieving  •  Shock, Doubt, and Denial •  Anger, Confusion, Resentment, and Blame  •  Guilt, Bargaining, and Regret  •  What to Do with Regrets and Guilt  •  Meditation  •  Sadness and Depression  •  Meditation  •  Relief, Resignation, and Acceptance  •  Try This Exercise  •  Meditation: Anger and Forgiveness  •  Meditation: The Effects of Grief

Chapter Two: Rainbow Red  -- Remembering the Life of Your Angel Animal

Who Was This Animal to You?  •  Try this exercise  •  The Day You Met  •  Meditation  •  Daily-life Memories  •  Try This Exercise  •  Prior to the Passing  •  Remembering the Moment of Death  •  Try This Exercise  •  Meditation  •  How to Remember Your Animal Companion’s Death  •  Try This Exercise  •  Meditation: How We Chose Each Other  •  Meditation: How We Missed Each Other

Chapter Three: Rainbow Yellow  -- The Spirituality of an Angel Animal’s Death

Try This Exercise  •  Our Personal Beliefs about Animals, Souls, and Death  •  Meditation  •  Yellow Is the Spiritual Nature of Animals at Death  •  Meditation  •  Prana’s Contract of Love  •  Meditation: Ask the Divine  •  Meditation: I Feel You Near Me

Bridges – Crossing Over the River of Grief Together

Chapter Four: Covered Bridges  -- Shelters from the Storms of Pet Loss

Family and Friends  •  Try This Exercise  •  Seeking Professional, Online, or Group Support  •  Consoling the Surviving Animals in a Multiple-pet Family  •  Children and Pet Loss  •  Meditation: Who Are Your Covered Bridges?  •  Mediation: Who Else Is Hurting?

Chapter Five: Swinging Bridges  -- Rituals That Heal and Beliefs That Cause Pain

Recognizing What Is Missing Now  •  Try This Exercise  •  Letting Go of anger   •  How to Handle a Disagreement with Your Religion’s Beliefs  •  Meditation   •  Rituals to Help You Mourn  •  Try This exercise  •  Lasting Tributes to Your Animal Companion  •  Meditation: Commemorate Your Pet  •  Meditation: The Shimmering Light of My Dreams

Chapter Six: Memorial Bridges  -- Memorial Services for Angel Animals

Keep It Simple  •  I Remember You Memorial Service   •  All God’s Creatures Memorial  Service  •  Together Again Memorial Service  •  Include the Other Animals  •  Meditation: Meeting You at the Rainbow Bridge  •  Meditation: Your Memorial Service

Chapter Seven: Golden Bridges  -- Angel Animals and the Afterlife

Afterlife Visitations by Animals  •  Communicating with Animals after Their Death  •  Try This Exercise  •  Spiritual Plane Animal Advocates  •  Meditation  •  Dreams of Animals Who Have Died  •  Try This Exercise  •  Grief Gauges  •  Try This Exercise  •  Getting Back into the Rhythms of Life  •  How Do You Know When You’re Ready to Adopt Another Pet?  •  Try This Exercise  •  Do Animals Reincarnate?  •  Meditation: Come Back to Me  •  Meditation: The Transition from Life to Living Again

Afterword
Appendix: Additional Meditations
Notes 
Resources
Acknowledgments 
About Allen and Linda Anderson

 

The Turbulent Waters of Grief after Losing Your Pet

“In this latest offering, the Andersons prove themselves to be the very angels and divine messengers of hope they write about in their Angel Animals series. Helping readers understand and successfully navigate the turbulent waters of grief, they remind us that the bond of love between a human soul and an animal soul is never broken and that the spiritual connection that binds us with a beloved animal never dies. Saying Goodbye to Your Angel Animals is fine reading for those who seek to better understand the agony of pet loss and priceless gift of compassion and love for anyone anticipating or coping with the loss of a cherished animal companion.”
--Marty Tousley, certified hospice bereavement counselor specializing in pet loss and author of Children and Pet Loss and The Final Farewell