ABSTRACT
The book concludes with focus on the grief-healing opportunities presented through legacy creation reflective of the sixth stage of mourning introduced by Kessler, finding meaning. As humans are meaning-making creatures who benefit from the closure and honoring of important relationships, relief can be found in the process of internalizing the lost being as an important resource of comfort and strength, further defining the steward’s sense of self. Obstacles to legacy creation for companion animals are identified. For example, after human loss, participation in funerals, religious services, the writing of obituaries, the reading of wills and bequests, and the sheer amount of information available about the deceased person’s life give much to draw from, while those mourning companion animals have few such reference points, and must often craft such rituals and histories on their own. While animal cemeteries and funeral homes are becoming more prolific, they remain few compared with the needs of those who might benefit from their affirming services. The chapter presents options for legacy creation among those mourning companion animals, including expression through the arts, volunteer work, legal advocacy, readoption, donation, and environmental work. The Animal Companion Bereavement Questionnaire can guide this process by helping to identify the unique and significant factors that existed within the relationship. For clinical readers, the suggestion originating in Chapter 1 is again reinforced that through the inclusion of animal family members in assessment, your work can become a form of legacy creation as well.
