🌈 Bentley’s Reminder

A note from our founder, Eugen Gassmann

There are moments in this work that remind us why we do what we do.
This is one of them.

Some stories stay with you — not because they’re dramatic, but because they’re real.
This is one of those stories: about a dog named Bentley, how he reminded me what compassion really means, and how his quiet presence continues to shape the work we do every day at Rainbow Box.

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A year ago this month, my dog Bentley crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

By then, I had been working on Rainbow Box for almost a year — building prototypes, talking to clinics, and trying to make client aftercare a little more human. He was there for all of it. Lying beside my desk while I packed the first boxes.

Watching me take photos. Following me to the printer. Snoring through my Zoom calls.

For 11 months, he supervised everything I did. 

And now, every time I sit down to work, I still half expect to see him there — my quiet companion, keeping me company while I try to build something good.

When Bentley passed, everything I had been working on suddenly became painfully real again. It was a sobering reminder, in my own home, of what it feels like to walk out of a vet’s office with an empty leash and a heart full of silence.

That moment didn’t start Rainbow Box — the seed for it had been planted years earlier, when my wife lost her heart dog, Diego, in 2018. But Bentley’s passing underlined what it all meant. It reminded me that what clinics do in those moments — a word, a card, a small gesture — can help families begin to heal, and remind them that their pet’s story mattered.

Since then, together with hundreds of compassionate clinics, we’ve sent hundreds of boxes and thousands of cards to families who were grieving. Each one a quiet reminder that their love was seen, that their loss was recognized, that their pet’s life mattered.

Every box I prepare, every story I hear from a clinic, every thank-you note from a client carries a little bit of Bentley’s spirit.
And I think that’s what makes this work feel so alive — that it’s personal for everyone involved. The vet who signs the card. The nurse who remembers the pet’s name. The family who opens the box and feels a moment of connection again.

Rainbow Box is built on that shared compassion — yours and mine — and I’m endlessly grateful to every clinic that takes the time to care in the moment it counts.

So today, I just want to say thank you.
For every card you’ve written.
For every box you’ve sent.
For every act of kindness that reminds a grieving family that they’re not alone.

And for allowing me — and Bentley’s spirit — to be a small part of it.

With gratitude,

Eugen
Founder, Rainbow Box

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💛 A quiet reminder of why compassion matters.

If you’d like to see how other clinics are weaving Rainbow Box into their aftercare programs — or share your own story — you can visit:
👉 What People Say

Every word, every gesture, and every box continues Bentley’s legacy — and reminds us all that compassion doesn’t end when a life does.