Loss of Pet

It's been almost a year since our dog, Stryder, died.   Like all families, we can say he was the perfect pet and miss him all the time.   I put together a few words together to share with my family when we buried him and thought it might be a helpful document for anyone who needs words to share during the loss of family pet:

But however and whenever we part from one another, I am sure we shall none of us forget poor Tiny Tim—shall we—or this first parting that there was among us?"
 
Death is a part of life.  Learning to face it and deal with it is as much a part of life as breathing.
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·       “The risk of love is loss and the price of loss is grief. But the pain of grief is only a shadow when compared with the pain of never risking love.” –

And so we are grateful for ____________________.  We remember the many ways he brought us LIFE and taught us more about the unconditional love of God in so many ways.  I know the world would be a much better place if everyone learned the unconditional love of a dog.  If they have a fault at all, it is that their lives are too short. 
 
But we know that going in. We know the pain is coming, you’re going to lose a dog, and there’s going to be great anguish, so you live fully in the moment with him, never failing to share his joy or delight in his innocence, because you can’t support the illusion that a dog can be your lifelong companion. There’s such beauty in the hard honesty of that, in accepting and giving love while always aware that it comes with an unbearable price.”
 
So, we never really owned _________________.  We had him on a lease.  I’m thankful that the lease was this long.
 
And so as we bury_________________ in the ground today, I know that his final resting place is in our hearts and will be there, truly, forever.  
 
We shall never forget this first parting among us or our faithful family friend, __________________
 
1 Corinthians 13: 4-8

 Prayer:  You are our comfort God.  As we mourn the loss of our pet, ______________ I pray that you would help us to be brave; to face the days ahead without him.   Thank you for giving him to us, this little leap in my spirit who brought us so much joy and so much happiness.  In  many ways, he was the embodiment of you in the life.  He taught us and showed us love.  For his life forever tied to ours, we are grateful.