Grief Comfort Card Deck For Pet Parents

Erica Messer organiseert deze actie.

Beschermde donatie

My name is Erica Messer and Saturday, October 9, 2021, a tragedy occurred when a new visitor to my home opened a small bathroom window in my rooftop apartment and forgot about it. Unfortunately, in our rented place there are not window screens, so we instruct everyone not to open them. It is now taped shut.

Our beloved one-year-old cat, Wolfgang snuck out and fell six stories from the roof and then died from the sustained injuries within an hour. I was very blessed to find him quickly and he was still alive and though he couldn’t walk, I though perhaps his injuries were not that bad. I was able to comfort him with Reiki, song and prayer on the way to emergency services where he unfortunately died within minutes.

We had adopted Wolfie after we heard about him needing a home. He had eye herpes as a young kitten and needed around-the-clock care to try and save his eye. With love and patience, it eventually healed! He had a little milky eye but seemed to not know. He quickly became my best friend and my other COVID companion. We knew our windows were dangerous in the apartment, so he and our other cat had a screened patio to be in.

Nevertheless, It was a terrible tragedy. It was an accident. I have forgiven my friend and understand. However, in trying to process my own sudden, intense grief and frustration, I searched the internet for self-help tools, especially a card deck that I could digest slowly, but was astonished at the lack of resources for losing a pet. I couldn’t find anything easily, so I made my own plan of activities that felt good, healthy and true to me. As I shared these plans with my Mom each day, she suggested I write them down and organize them.

One of my favorites was a love letter to Wolfgang detailing all the things that I love about him. It was the first time I felt positive about the situation and I felt hope. I developed these affirmations and practices for myself to stay balanced. I quickly decided to turn this project into something that would be helpful and positive for others. It covers the subjects of unconditional love, forgiveness, acceptance, trust and letting go. My hope is to be able to get these made accessible to and to speak to everyone.

So far there are 31 cards (for each day of the month) printed on two-sided, full color, 4 inch cardstock squares with a box. I hope for them to go to press by November 7.

My intention is to not only sell these directly from my website, but also get representation in retail stores and major distributors. The money raised here will pay for final design and printing costs as well as consultants for marketing and distribution. It will also go towards copyright, trademark and patent fees, LLC registration, website and e-commerce development, etc.

I hope that these cards will help families and individuals process the grief from losing a pet in a healthy and heartfelt way.

My husband and I have put in our own money and the 10k is our goal to fundraise in addition.