Testimonials

In writing this well-deserved tribute to Gaelynn I wish to endorse what everyone has penned already and no doubt I will struggle to say anything new.

Perhaps though I can give a little background as I had known Gaelynn professionally for many years.

She first came to my notice as a trainee counselor and I had the rewarding role of teaching her the skills needed to be an effective and active listener. This task was easy as Gaelynn came with a natural ability to reach out to those in distress. The more technical skills; she knew many of them instinctively. To be there for those of us struggling with the real trauma of losing a dearly loved pet she is ideally suited and I believe this is her vocation in life. We recently lost our dearly loved Tibetan Spaniel, and even at the grand old age of 16, it came as shock and a blow to our hearts.

Gaelynn was calm, unhurried, very empathic, and gave great dignity to our tears and loss. We knew she understood and we felt respected, validated, and safe in our grief. I can highly recommend Gaelynn in this important service to those of us who love the pets we live closely with.

Bev

Dear Gaelynn,

My husband and I were really impressed by the tender care and compassion shown by you when our cherished little dog Rocky, was brought out for our final goodbye and given to your care.
We really felt that you shared our grief and sadness and that meant a lot to us.
Upon collecting his ashes we were moved by the yellow orchid, alongside his urn and the lighted candles (the orchid is still in flower.)
Thank you again for your kindnesses, you are one special lady and a real pleasure to have met you.

Yours Sincerely John & Betty Pickett

Dearest Gaelynn,

I cannot thank you enough for the care, love, dignity & respect you have given to myself & Melchie during this process of loss & grief.

I know she is still with me and now in a ‘magnificent’ place . . . as Melchie puts it, but the loss of the physical is a journey. I miss her everyday but feel peace & gratitude for all the love you have shown & the work you do to make this part of the journey an honouring one.

Keep up your ‘divine’ work, you truly are a gift to all when it is time to say goodbye to our precious & loved ‘pets’.

Thankyou from Melchie, Kera & myself.

So much love to you

Janette

Hello Gaelynn,

Andy and I would like to thank you so very much for your wonderful support and care you gave to us as we said our goodbyes to our lovely Bob.

You were such a wonderful voice on the phone at a such emotional time for us. My husband knew immediately that you were the right person to help us.

As soon as we arrived at your premise I felt such a calmness come over me as my eyes took in the serenity and beauty of your surroundings. Peacefulness and tranquility was what we felt and we just knew that this was the most fitting place for us to pay our last respects to Bob.

Once we were inside your cottage, your kind words and guidance helped me get through the process. You knew what to say,when to say nothing and we will always be so grateful that we let Bob go with your love and care.

Having him back home with us in his urn has helped us reach the end of his passing.

We will always have him with us in our hearts and mind and I can’t thank you enough for your services.

Many thanks and love, Andy and Jilly Walters

Dear Gaelynn

Thank you so very much for all you did to help lessen our sadness following the sudden death of our much loved cat, Maisie.

We knew, right from the moment we drove up to your little cottage with its garden, pond and dovecote, that this was the ideal place for us to farewell Maisie. We all appreciated your interest in Maisie; your understanding and compassion about how we were all feeling and the time you gave us to complete our goodbyes to her. (My oldest daughter had been distraught that day about losing her best buddy of 15 years, but she had a real sense of calmness as we left your place.)

We feel so very fortunate to have discovered your extremely caring and professional service at our time of need.

Kind regards
Caroline Hewitt

Dear Gaelynn,

Tony and I can’t thank you enough for all the support you gave us and for such a wonderful service. I am just so sorry that you have to deal with people at probably one of the worst times in their lives. It is a testament to you and your personality that you can provide comfort at such a trying time. You are one special lady!
Thankyou again.

Kindest regards,
Catherine

Hi Gaelynn,

We wish to express our heartfelt thanks for the wonderful way in which you organised and conducted our beloved Puskin’s cremation.

We made a trip to one of the gorges to disperse our buddy’s ashes.

We could not have asked for anything better. Thank you also for the kind words of comfort. We will be delighted to recommend you and your establishment if and when situations arise.

Kind regards,
Visa, Ross, Mack and Jess Kumaran

Hi Gaelynn,

Just a note to say thank you so much. We are rapt with the stunning urn, way better than image.

Kind regards,
Melissa and Dan

Dear Gaelynn,

It was a privilege to have my darling dog Maisie individually cremated. Thank you for your sincere compassionate care. I felt at peace knowing she was in your hands once she left home on her last ever car ride. Importantly in providing my darling dog the dignity she so deserved. You have a unique and very special service. I love the pendant and the writing on her urn is just so elegant.

Best Wishes,
Andrea Tainui (Mummy of Maisie)
Patsy and Andy Tainui (Grandparents of Maisie)

Hi Gaelynn,

I just want to thank you so very much for the compassion and warmth in my time of extreme stress and grief, with which you handled so wonderfully that it made this terrible time just that wee bit more bearable and took a great weight off my shoulders.

The setting you have there, and the way in which you returned Rock and Jas’s ashes was so beautifully done.

Also thank you very much for going that extra mile to have my boys cremated very quickly, which enabled me to get home to the West Coast to just be in my home environment and have some very necessary “time out”.

With loving appreciation and thanx
Bob

Hi Gaelynn,

Thank you so much for taking care of Kimba. I picked her up on Friday from the vet and just wanted to thank you for the lovely white rose you put on her box and her personal certificate.

Also thank you for consoling me last week with your kind and understanding words – it meant a lot to me and helped me. I am still emotional when I think of her but know we made the right decision.

Warmest wishes,
Cathy & family

Hi Gaelynn,

I just wanted to write and say a very heartfelt thank you for treating our wee Maxi dog with such kindness. As you know I wasn’t sure about the cremation process but you and the service you provide allowed me to breathe, and I desperately needed to breathe. Being so far away when he died, it being so sudden and the nightmare we endured to get home in order to be with our children had already devastated me, to have had to bury him the next day would have just been horrendous, I couldn’t think, and I needed some time. You gave me time. I now have Maxi home with me in a way that I can deal with and we can now plan where we want him to be and when. This has been huge. Thank you so so much.

Kind regards
Bridget Parker

Dear Gaelynn,

We just wanted to say thankyou for the compassionate care given to our kitty Ninyo Beck. Since his death was very sudden we did not have time to mentally prepare. The lovely card, clippings of his fur and the wee yellow rose placed on the outside of his box meant a lot to us. What is especially important is that he was individually cremated and was treated with dignity.
Again we say thanks for this valuable service you provide.

Kind regards,
Denise & Greg Beck

Hi Gaelynn,

I just wanted to say how nice it was to meet you and once again thankyou for the wonderful job you do. Josie is now home where she belongs. What a lovely way you pesent our babies back to us, very touching and as I’m sureyou realize very emotional, but it is a final memory we have with our beloved pet, so for everything you have done I’m eternally grateful.
Take care and please keep up your wonderful work.

Eternally grateful,
Renee

Gaelynn,

Words cannot express how much I appreciate your care, understanding, compassion and respect you gave me on the passing of my wee buddy Jasper.

The cottage by the river was the perfect place for me to say my final goodbyes. The finishing touch to Jasper’s urn with the rose was lovely and I also appreciate you bringing jasper back home to Rangiora. It was a personal touch from you that he deserved.

Thankyou once again Gaelynn.
Allison

Dear Gaelynn,

Today we received our Targe back home. He was so lovingly cared for by you and we thank you for this. The note, clipping of Targe’s coat and flower touched my soul with fond memories for a much loved family member.

From the first phone call, your kind words, support, caring voice and quiet cottage made the transition of releasing Targe from our home to you so much easier.

It is never easy to say bye. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Keri, Steve and Emily Harrison.

Dear Gaelynn

Thankyou so much for the time you took with my 3 young children and myself when our dear westie Geordie passed away. I am really pleased we came out to your property with Geordie. Where you live is so peaceful and tranquil, it bought inner peace to us all. You made a very sad day into a special family evet that we will always lovingly remember.

II highly recommended your service to everyone.

Averil Bradley,
Canterbury Rep for the Westie Club.

Dear Gaelynn,

Lucy and I would like to thank you for your role in the cremation of our dear loved boy Dougie. You made it such a beautiful happening. We were taken by your sincereness and consoling words and on the trip home we both were very happy with the service you had provided.

Once again thanks Gaelynn for being there.

Love from Lucy & Peter Zwarenkant, Butch and the cat Honey

Thankyou Loving Tributes

Thankyou for your kind and thoughtful words at the loss of out big boy Buster. The service you offer gave us a chance to say our goodbyes and I felt comfortable leaving, knowing he was in safe hands.

Thankyou so much.

Love Lisa and family

Dear Gaelynn,

Thank you so much for all the care and respect shown to our very much loved naughty boy Labrador, George.

Cannot put into words the shock of losing our “boy” who was only twenty months old. We will never forget our George but would like to thank you for your understanding of our loss.

George was so loved.
God Bless

Our love,
Roy & Margaret Cole

Dear Gaelynn,

We were so touched by your genuine, caring support during our traumatic time with Kiri.

It meant so much to talk to someone who really understood what we were going through and we’re so glad we chose you to take care of Kiri.

She is missed dreadfully and the house seems so empty without her. But I am aware that she has had a wonderful, exciting life and I’ve been a very lucky person to have had her companionship for so long. Nothing will ever replace her.

Again, our heartfelt thanks.

Kindest regards,
S & J

Dear Gaelynn,

A week ago today you privately cremated and prepared our Gracie for her final journey.

Yours is a very special vocation and your comforting kindness and understanding of us two devasted people made our loss bearable.

May you continue in your very special ministry Gaelynn.

You are an exceptional lady.
Marion & Graeme Hunter

“Loving Tributes” is the perfect name given for the wonderful service provided by Gaelynn. I was devastated when I found out that my incredibly special pet “Safari”, of 11 years had advanced cancer. I spent the last few days of his life corresponding with Gaelynn. Not only did Gaelynn offer consoling words during these final days but she also went out of her way to make the whole process as bearable as possible. Many people undervalue the loss of a pet but Gaelynn was so understanding and compassionate and even through my grief, it really made the world of difference.

I offer my endless thanks and gratitude.

Sarah

Dear Gaelynn,

From the bottom of our hearts we would sincerely like to thank you for your understanding, compassion and respect you gave us all with our beloved Clyde’s passing.

We miss him terribly every single day, part of our family is missing, but with your help it is lovely to have him back home with us again.

You are truly an amazing person and worth your weight in “gold”.

Thank you so much.

Maree, Glen & Rose.

Dear Gaelynn
(A very Special Lady)

We would sincerely like to thankyou for showing us such caring & comforting compassion over the recent sad loss of our beloved family pet, Gizmo.

You have truely helped us through our grieving process Gaelynn.

Warmest wishes
Croucher family

Thankyou Gaelynn, Your service is wonderful and truly a loving tribute for our ‘gentle old man’ Gus. We appreciated your genuine caring, understanding and all those little extra’s.

Kindest Regards,
Andrea & Donna

Good morning Gaelynn,

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your understanding, your compassion and your friendship. You have made me strong, and talking about it like you suggested, has helped me immensely.

Jeanette McEachen

Hi Gaelynn

I just wanted to thank you so much for your caring attention to our Maija’s arrangements. It was wonderful to be with someone who treated our precious Maija with such dignity and respect, I really really appreciate it, she was so special to us. We are pleased with the urn, it’s really nice. There’s still a lot of pain of course and I miss her terribly all the time, words can’t really express how terrible I feel but I wanted to let you know that what you did really helped me.

Thank you again

Kind regards
Rolien Busch

“In December 2008, I was called upon by my Mum to ‘do what had to be done’ for her old black Labrador, Otto. After many years of unconditional love, Mum knew the time had come. The act of putting a dog to sleep or holding your own dog while it is done is painful enough, but feeling comfortable knowing where your dogs body has gone afterwards is another. I knew that for Mum, it wasn’t going to be right for her and Dad to take Otto down to the vet clinic in the morning to be looked after. I remembered seeing brochures in at the Vet Clinic for Loving Tributes and checked out the website that evening. It sounded just right. Mum was able to spend time with Otto at home overnight and then have Gaelynn come and pick Otto up and be taken for private cremation. It was perfect – Mum rang me after Otto had been picked up to say she felt so comfortable and at peace with who had taken him and how he would be dealt with. They picked his ashes up a couple of days later and recently we had a memorial for him at his favourite park. Thank you Gaelynn and family for assisting in easing the pain at the end with your care, compassion and faultless service.”

Dr Francesca Matthews, Veterinarian, Christchurch

To Gaelynn

Thank you so much for your personal touch with Tyler (the dog). We are so impressed.

It was lovely.

Regards,
Marion

To Loving Tributes

Thank you so much Gaelynn for taking so much care of our special wee boy “Jackson” it has helped so much knowing you cared, and understood what he meant to us.

Thank you again
Dianne T.

Dear Gaelynn,

Thank you for taking care of our beloved Roddy. Your words were a comfort to all of us and your website information about dealing with the loss of a pet was very helpful.

We all miss Roddy terribly as he was a very treasured member of the family, and we value being able to keep him close to us with the service you provide.

Thank you again.

Yours sincerely,
Dunlop Family

Dear Gaelynn,

I just wanted to say thank you so very very much for the lovely way in which you looked after Beij and Roz, Kasey and myself when we bought Beij to you. I thought the little certificate and the lovely little rose were rather special too. The little “Beij” box is nicer than I thought it was going to be. It was really nice to meet you, and I feel that you are a very special person to do what you do for all our “Special Animals”. Somehow you made his life mean more than just a pet. We will meet again. Until then, my very best wishes to you.

My dear Gaelynn,

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your absolute empathy, shown us and our beloved dog Otto. Loving Tributes services made our sad journey more bearable – for that we are so thankful.

Yours most sincerely,

Libby

Hi Gaelynn,

There are no words that can thank you enough, for the compassion, and kindness, and gentleness you showed at the passing of my beloved Vickey….

She was my last girl and the end of an era spanning over 35 years with dogs.

It was a very very sad time, and you came into my life and made this big goodbye so pleasant as it could be…

Your professional approach was outstanding, and your business is of the highest standard. I will never forget your sincere compassion….

Thankyou Gaelynn,

We will meet again…

God Bless you.
Pam & Steve

Dear Gaelynn,

Thank you so much. The kindness and compassion you’ve shown me and the gentle and loving way you treated Kesha, I will never forget. I will be forever grateful.

Megan
xo

To dear Gaelynn,

For your compassion, empathy and calmness, when our world had fallen apart after the loss of our beloved Willow

Thank you!

Love Margaret and Paddy

Dear Gaelynn,

I have been sitting here trying to think of the right words to write that would explain to you how much your kindness and understanding meant to me yesterday. I realise there are no words that can thank you enough. Tazzy meant the world to us and you were the perfect person to help us. We miss her like crazy but know that soon she will be back with us forever.

You are a shining star Gaelynn ….. thankyou.

Our kindest regards,
Gina and Courtney

Dear Gaelynn,

We would both like to say a very big Thankyou for your compassion, kindness and support at the sad time of Freda’s passing. As you know, she was a much loved and probably very spoilt cat, but she bought us much joy over the years. We miss her very much, but we know she is at peace now.

Your empathy and support was very much appreciated, and helped us such a lot in our grieving process.

Thank you once again.

Regards,
Helen & Terry Mora

Dear Gaelynn,

Just a note to say a big thankyou for your care & support with the sad loss of our friend ‘Harry”.

Kind regards,
Kim and Henry

Dear Gaelynn,

Thank you so much for your services in our time of need with “Binxie Boy”. You were so lovely and thoughtful, it made the process so much easier. We know he is in a better place now and we think and talk of him so often. We wouldn’t hesitate at all to recommend you to others.

Thanks again
Karen & Nathan

Dear Gaelynn,

This comes with my warmest wishes and also my immeasurable appreciation for all your help and support following Sam’s death.

Grief seems to be a very personal journey, but one still needs someone for support and comfort and you fulfilled this role to the brim and overflowing. I will never forget it. I’ll never forget your utterly sincere compassion and of course your skills, being the counsellor that you are.

May God bless you,
Michael Clark

Gaelynn,

Rose & I would like you to know how we appreciated your thoughtfulness in our loss of Oslo.

The “extras” were lovely & not expected. With all good wishes & again our thanks.

Don

Dear Gaelynn,

Thankyou so so much for your wonderful caring help, and the time you took to talk to me on the phone. Wow! Was so much appreciated. You made things so much easier for the loss of Kittenbear. It was so great to have the little fella home. I didn’t even cry! Things were finally at peace. He is sitting in his basket in my bedroom where he often slept. I am so grateful. Many thanks.

Marilyn

To Gaelynn,

We just wanted to say thank you for everything that you did to help during the recent sad loss of our much loved Jess. Your support has been tremendous.

Janine & David

Dear Gaelynn,

There aren’t words enough to thank-you for your kindness and caring on Sheps passing. To have someone to deal with all the little things that I was totally unable to do on the day he passed away was beyond mere words, and the love and gentleness you treated Shep with in death, will never be forgotten. All the little touches, right down to the flowers on his casket, help to give me strength.

With everlasting gratitude,
Adrienne

Dear Gaelynn,

Thank you for looking after Lily so sensitively. The little rose you placed on the box was a personal touch I greatly appreciated and I know she would have enjoyed our final ride together out to your beautiful property.

Much love and gratitude,
Nancy

Dear Gaelynn,

This letter comes with a heartfull of gratitude and a deep appreciation for providing us with your Pet Loss Support service – Loving Tributes. We cannot thank you enough for being there when our pretty wee cat, Peggy, passed away. Thankyou for taking the time to not only care for Peggy, but also for providing comfort and support for us as well, at this very sad time. Peggy had graced our family with her beautiful presence and spirit for seventeen and a half years and had certainly left “paw prints” all over our hearts.

And Gaelynn, you understood. You listened with your heart and gave us the strength and courage to organize a farewell, that only a best friend could have.

Gaelynn, you have done something very special, and for that, we will never forget you.

Thankyou,

Sincerely from The Hill Family.

Dear Gaelynn,

I would like you to know how grateful I was that you were able to take care of Ingrid for me. I did appreciate your understanding. I miss her company very much but everyone has been so kind to me at this time. Pets do become so much part of our lives as you well know. Thank you once again.

Regards Joyce

Dear Gaelynn,

John and I would like to thankyou again for your care and support during our time of grief. Fleur was such a devoted and loving wee dog, and we miss her so much.

There is an emptiness in our home that cannot be filled. Our first walk on the beach without her was a very emotional experience.

Your total understanding of how we felt and your kind words helped us, and our family, through this sad time.

Kindest Regards,
Alison & John

Dear Gaelynn,

May we as a family say Thank you. You are a treasure for any one who has to say good-bye to their beloved pet.

Love “Rutherford” Leslies family

In Memory of Toby

Toby came into our lives as a therapeutic tool. One of our family members was terminally ill. I felt that my son, 11 years old at the time, needed someone he could hug during this very sad time. In fact it ended up that Toby helped all of us.

My son had wanted a dog for some years. Our family had never had pets because of allergies to most animals, especially cats and dogs. Some research turned up a few low allergy animals and Bichon Friese seemed just the ticket. Small, cute and family friendly.

So Toby arrived. Not being experienced in dog rearing we made all the mistakes in obedience training. Thus Toby thought he was human, so he was what we liked to call an “empowered dog”. Really that meant that he jumped up on people, sat on the sofa and expected to participate in all family activities. Where ever we could take him, he went. Fortunately we had some very tolerant extended family and friends who also welcomed Toby as another member of our family.
He worked his magic and many tears were shed into his coat. He handed out unconditional love and was always at the window waiting for us to come home. So much so that we started to call him Mrs Bates (for those of you who remember Psycho.)

Happy times passed but the day came when we were told that Toby had cancer and would not live long. In fact, like our family member he lived longer than expected, through sheer stubbornness, and still gave us his love.
Eventually this came to an end and a final visit to the vet meant that we knew Toby was about to die.

I was at a total loss as to what to do on a practical level. We did not want to put Toby into the garden in case we moved and left him behind. Also we wanted to acknowledge his role in our family and allow ourselves a process that would let us give him, and us, the goodbye we all needed and he deserved.
On that Friday night I rang Loving Tributes, never having contact them before, to say that our Toby was going and what should we do. Gaelynn was wonderful. She talked in a most empathetic way about what the practicalities were whilst acknowledging our human need and Toby’s special place in our lives.
The family gathered about the fire with Toby in his basket. We talked, laughed and cried. Toby died.

I rang Gaelynn the next morning. She arrived with a lovely white coffin with daffodils on top. We placed Toby in the coffin and my daughter sang an Irish Blessing to him. Gaelynn took him away, arranged his cremation and brought his ashes back a few days later.
Gaelynn is also a trained counsellor so I took the opportunity to have some counselling about the grief I felt about Toby. It was so helpful.
He is still part of our lives as we often talk of him and even though my daughter now has another Bichon we acknowledge that he is different, though as lovable.

Toby was very special. I could never say that animals do not have emotions as Toby certainly did. I was surprised at the number of people who were touched by Toby’s death indicating to me how his personality had reached beyond the family.

Loving Tributes made Toby’s end something that we could remember with poignancy and closure.

Hi Gaelynn,

The setting you have there and the way in which you returned Rock & Jas’s ashes was so beautifully done.

Also, thank you very much for going that extra mile to have my boys cremated very quickly, which enabled me to get home to the West Coast to just be in my home environment and have some very necessary time out.

With loving appreciation and thanx.

Bob