Why a Rabbit?

You may ask this question when you look at our website or come to the funeral home, so here is the official reason for the rabbit. 

This is an excerpt from the letter I, Teresa Basinger, wrote on April 17, 2007, to Her Majesty The Queen of England regarding the reason for our rabbit at Pettett Funeral Home. (Our funeral home received a letter back from Buckingham Palace in London from a Lady in Waiting or Secretary of the Queen and we have it at the funeral home.)

A rabbit is here at the funeral home for several reasons:

  1. He draws your attention away from the worst possible thing that could ever occur in your life for a second to thinking about a cute bunny.  This is the very beginning of healing from grief.  To be able to stop thinking about death and start thinking about life.  If you can start thinking about life for a second, then two, then three, then you can begin to think of something good for a minute, then two, then three and then one hour, two and three--this is the very essence of healing from grief that it doesn't overwhelm you all the time.
  2. The first rabbit we had was Mr. Pet-It, he was our "owner", because his name and the name of the funeral home were pronounced the same. 
  3. Because he was the owner, my staff and I worked for Mr. Pet-It.  We cleaned his cage and got his food , so we literally worked for a rabbit.
  4. He had rules at his funeral home.  He did not allow you to run, or jump, or hop around at the funeral home.  This is how the children learned to show respect for the person who had died. Plus, he had such long ears, he did not allow you to yell or scream at the funeral home, because it would hurt his ears.
  5. Because he was here, he could give families comfort by just being here. The true meaning of funeral service.

Then Mr. Pet-It died. To be a funeral home, we had to have a funeral for Mr. Pet-It and we could not replace him with another look alike.

But the children "of all ages" missed the rabbit at the funeral home. Beginning March 21, 2007, we have Sir Frederick of Cadbury, but you can call him "Cousin Fred".  His story is told in the next section under Mr. Pet-It and Cousin Fred.