Alan Anderson - Saying Goodbye to Your Angel Animals: Finding Comfort after Losing Your Pet

New World Library
14 Pamaron Way
Novato, California 94949

Copyright 2005, 2008 by Allen and Linda Anderson
Originally published in 2005 as part of a boxed set titled Rainbows & Bridges.

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, or other without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

The authors and publisher of this book are not offering medical or psychological advice or promoting the use of any treatments for physical or emotional problems. The authors and publisher assume no liability nor responsibility to any person, animal, or entity with respect to any loss, damage, or injury caused, or alleged to be caused, directly or indirectly by the information in this book.

Text design by Tona Pearce Myers

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Anderson, Allen.

Saying goodbye to your angel animals : finding comfort after losing your pet / Allen and Linda

Anderson.

p. cm.

Originally published in 2005 as part of a boxed set titled Rainbows & BridgesT.p. verso.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-1-57731-626-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)

1. Pet ownersPsychology. 2. PetsDeathPsychological aspects. 3. BereavementPsychological aspects. I.Anderson, Linda C.. II.Anderson,Allen.- Rainbows & bridges. III. Title.

SF411.47.A53 2008

155.9'37dc22

2008015743

First printing as Saying Goodbye to Your Angel Animals, August 2008

ISBN 978-1-57731-626-8
Printed in the United States on 50% postconsumer-waste recycled paper

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

As a veterinary medical correspondent and lifetime pet lover, I believe in both the power of pets and the power of stories to heal. This book... offers a wide range of healing activities, wise information, compassionate reflection, and practical help for honoring and memorializing the life of your pet.

Dr. Marty Becker, resident veterinarian on

ABCs Good Morning America and author of

Chicken Soup for the Pet Lovers Soul

Let me say this about Saying Goodbye to Your Angel Animals: I love it. I treasure it.The Andersons have left no question unposed, no conflict bypassed, no reflection unacknowledged. If you are facing or have faced the loss of a beloved animal friend, let this book be your companion and your comfort.There exists no better exploration of this landscape of loss.

Susan Chernak McElroy, author of

Animals as Teachers and Healers and Why Buffalo Dance

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 to 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 a 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

Allen and Linda Anderson care about those who have experienced loss.With warmth and sincerity, they provide many suggestions and resources to help you through the healing process. Saying Goodbye to Your Angel Animals inspires and brings comfort to anyone who has lost a beloved animal companion.

Niki Behrikis Shanahan, author of

The Rainbow Bridge: Pet Loss Is Heavens Gain

and There Is Eternal Life for Animals

B ottom line: It hurts like crazy. And hardly anybody understands. Family, friends, co-workers sympathized. For a while. But they expected that you would be over it by now. Maybe they found a day or even a week of grieving to be acceptable. But after all, this was only a pet. Why are you still moping around? Why dont you get another one? Why dont you get a life?

So you ingest their words or their silent disapproval like vials of poison to your self-esteem. You wonder if they could be right. Are you a hopeless, codependent, overly romantic, anthropomorphizing weakling? Why do you mourn the loss of your animal companion more than any other loss in your life? How can this bereavement cause such emptiness, grayness, and sheer torture? You feel foolish. You are embarrassed. You dont want to admit the magnitude, intensity, or tenacity of your pain. You are tempted to suck it in, shove it under, seal it over.