On the same day I heard the sad news about my friend Yvonne's dog, Carmel, I was "friended" on Facebook by Nadine Rosin who has written a book called The Healing Art of Pet Parenthood. I guess it was meant to be.

We emailed back and forth a little on pet loss and Nadine highlighted the following passage from her book:

"And then there was the inevitable, 'So when are you going to get a new dog'' or after three weeks one friend asked, 'Aren't you over it yet'' and 'You were lucky she lived as long as she did, you should be happy about that' and so on. Soon I learned that I could take better care of myself by screening all my calls and not even returning some of them.

What I learned was this: there is only one thing to say, in my opinion, when someone loses someone they love and that is, 'I am so sorry. I love you and want to help. Tell me what needs doing that you can't handle right now.' That, and like all the grief books say, be there to listen.

If they want to tell you the death story forty times, let them. That's how you can be there for them and support their healing. That's how I knew I must be there for my friends in the future when they lost someone.

I wondered why we aren't taught about grieving in school, why as adults, we still don't know how to deal with it or behave with others who are dealing with it. Death's loss, the one thing we know for certain we must face, and yet most of us are clueless when it comes to helping each other through its devastating wake."

copyright 2008 Nadine M. Rosin- all rights reserved. Wheatmark Publishiing
May not be reproduced or retransmitted in any form without written permission of the publisher.

Such excellent advice for all of us.

Nadine has also put together a video about the loss of her dog who died of cancer and is the inspiration of her book. Check it out below - it's a very touching piece about a very characterful dog and a woman who doesn't apologize for loving her dog in both life and death.

My blogging friend, Yvonne DiVita, told me the sad news that her dog and companion Carmel passed away last week. Yvonne guest blogged about Carmel amongst her other pets as part of my Me, My Pet, and I series.

Carmel came down with bloat, also known as gastric tortion, that was just too far gone to recover from.Yvonne blogged about Carmie's death here - it's a very touching read.

From all of us here at Embrace, we send Yvonne and her family many hugs and heartfelt thoughts and prayers through this difficult time.

[Tomorrow, I'll continue on the theme of pet loss and how you can support your friends and family who have lost a dear one]

Richard Zatorski, a consulting actuary writing for the American Academy of Actuaries magazine, Contingencies, recently wrote an article on innovation in insurance. He starts off:

The insurance industry has rarely been known for its creativity and foresight with regard to the emerging needs of its customers. In fact, many recent policy changes have been attempts to clarify what isn't covered as opposed to giving consumers more and better features to choose from.

Anyone living in Florida or on the gulf coast needing home owners insurance knows all about that.

He then goes on to talk about microtrends - "intense identity groups that are growing and have needs and wants unmet by the current crop of companies and marketers." (the book he references is Mark Penn's book Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes if you are interested in the topic.)

So I was gratified to see he picked up on pet insurance as one of these trends in insurance.

Veterinary Pet Insurance in Brea, Calif., and Embrace Pet Insurance in Cleveland are among those companies that currently offer comprehensive health insurance products for pets, but considering all those childless couples, empty nesters, and retirees for whom the pet has become a true family member, this area may be ripe for further exploration.

Someday, that ever-present gecko may become the official spokesanimal for policies covering pet life insurance, funeral expenses, and maybe even genetic cloning to replace dear old Fido in a way never before possible.

Now that would be something - Geico Pet Insurance. Perhaps I could do the voice of a talking British dog for that one :)

The rest of the article goes on to talk about other niche insurance products - you'll just have to read the article Why Didn't I Think of That' to find out what they are.