"I Hate Writing About Him In Past Tense" : Guest Article by Nicola Davis

Rory was (I hate writing about him in past tense) a little white and sandy coloured Shih Tzu, who brought joy to all our lives.

I wasn’t supposed to have Rory, it was obviously just meant to be. My sister and friend were buying a puppy and I went with them. When the gate flew open, the puppies all came bounding in to the room. But at the very back was the runt of the litter, who tripped, did a roll and splatted on the floor. From that moment I knew I had to have him. Someone had already claimed him, but lucky for me they didn’t show up to collect him and the rest as they say is history...

The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Letter to Your Pet After They’ve Gone

“We’ll be friends forever, won’t we, Pooh?” asked Piglet.

“Even longer,” Pooh answered.

A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

So, I asked AI – Chat GPT to be exact – for idea on Articles for Gracie’s Way it mentioned recommending or discussing the idea of writing a letter your pet after they’ve gone. I absolutely loved this thought because I’ve actually written letters to pets after they’ve passed – and whilst they’ve been alive (mostly on Birthdays) – that I’ve published in blog posts on my mental health blog; I’m NOT Disordered (www.imnotdisordered.co.uk). I’ll link a few of them after this little introduction...

"I Can't Wait to Hold You Again One Day" : Guest Article by Emma Yoxall

Unlike the first Guest Post, I – Aimee Wilson, Project Lead – wanted to just provide a little introduction to this one… Emma Yoxall actually messaged the Gracie’s Way Instagram (@gracieswayuk) a week or so ago with a photo of Buster and a little message explaining how he was her inspiration to support others. So, naturally, I took the opportunity to ask her to write an article about her journey, and she very kindly agreed. When she sent me the finished article, she actually said in her email: ‘it’s been really cathartic writing about Buster, so thank you!’ and I was over the moon because writing has been so therapeutic for me – especially with my mental health journey – so to hear that the writing opportunity I provided someone else had a similar, beneficial impact was so incredibly motivating and moving! This comment of Emma’s has actually inspired me to create a Collaboration Pack which will be full of guidance, advice, and support for anyone else writing an article for Gracie’s Way so keep an eye out for that! Now, I’ll hand over to Emma…

You Can Follow Emma on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emmayoxallpetlosssupport/

An Interview with Gracie’s Way Project Lead: Aimee Wilson

In brainstorming ideas for Instagram content, I thought about some sort of piece on FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) but realised it could actually make a good article for the website. With the Project obviously not being launched just yet, it was going to be impossible to reach out to followers to ask them to submit questions; so, I wrote a prompt for AI (specifically, Chat GPT) to create questions for me based on the contents of the website…

"They showed me what my purpose was" : Guest Article

A lot of people underestimate the magnitude of what it is like to lose a pet. For some, they are 'just animals', for me they are my family, they are my babies. I own rats, and a lot of people will probably not like the idea of pet rats, but they are not what you think. They are so different to what most people have as an image in their head. People think, dirty, feral, aggressive, unsociable. That is so far from the truth. Pet rats have so much to give, they love cuddles, they love kisses, they loved being talked to all the time. They are so misunderstood. But probably out of maybe 30 people that have met my rats, pretty much all of them changed their opinion...

“Am I meant to struggle this much?”: Applying The Five Stages of Grief to Pet Bereavement

The question “will it ever get better?” is such a common ask amongst bereaved pet owners after their loss and Gracie’s Way wanted to provide some sort of helpful and motivational, honest answer for it. I recognise that unanswered questions – particularly around grief and specifically regarding pet bereavement – can be really incredibly challenging to live with or to be able to still move forwards. So, here’s Gracie’s Way’s version of an honest but hopefully reassuring and comforting answer to this question…

Grief with Amazon UK: 30 Amazon UK Items To Manage Your Pet Grief

Welcome to the first collaboration for Gracie’s Way, and I’m so proud and honoured to say that it’s with Amazon UK – a site I’ve partnered with many times before on my mental health blog; I’m NOT Disordered. So, today I’ve picked out 30 items (10 items for each of the three different categories of products) from www.amazon.co.uk which I believe can – in various ways – help you to cope with and manage your grief in your experience of pet bereavement...