What great questions! Thanks for asking. So, I have accepted that my pets are going to die, and I think from researching and writing Good Grief I am a little more aware of that possibility every day but I think it has helped me try to live in / appreciate the moment more. So even if my dog Seymour (who loves to chase trucks, ugh) runs into the road and gets killed, I like to think that now I will be able to appreciate the few years we've had together at least and just be happy we had those, even if he dies young/tragically. Though it definitely will hurt the same! Some people I interviewed said they felt each subsequent pet death hurt even MORE as they got older because each one reminded them of all the previous ones that came before it as opposed to getting more immune to the grief. But I think despite the pain it's still worth having pets because the joy the bring (me at least) makes up for how sad it is when they die.

As for my research changing how I mourn pets, I've definitely thought about wanting to do some of the things I learned about now. I love the idea of preserving/taxidermying my tortoise Terrence's shell, and Seymour has a very distinctive skull, I could see wanting to articulate his skeleton or maybe preserve just the tip of his tail or ear, though I'm not sure yet. I definitely think I want to get memorial tattoos though for all of them. And I already make little shrines on shelves in my home and put together photo albums, so I will keep that up as well.