Sympathy Cards are Thoughtful
When someone loses a close friend or family member, it can be a very difficult time for the person as they grieve. This is why if you send them a sympathy cards, they are likely to feel much better in spite of the fact that they are mourning the loss of someone who was very special to them. If you send a sympathy card with a few kind words, it can make a world of difference to someone who feels very sad and alone as a result of losing someone who played an important role in their life.
If you opt to send someone out a quick e-mail when they’re grieving, this is a very tactless gesture. It will seem like you don’t really have time to express your sympathy for them, and think of their loss as an inconvenience if it means you have to spend time on them. They might think of this gesture as rude because it doesn’t show that you put any thought or time into what you sent.
On the other hand, if you send them a hand written note that shows your sympathy, they’ll realize that you do actually care about them and want them to know that they aren’t alone. They will appreciate this thoughtful deed, and will also remember it for many years to come; you will show that they are important to you, and when you’re grieving, they will also be there for you when you need them.
Sometimes, it’s better to send someone a card when they’re going through a difficult time than to visit them in person. This is because they might already be inundated with people who want to drop by and say hello. Although everyone who wants to see them has the best of intentions, they actually might need some time and space alone in order to get over a traumatic loss.
Another great thing about sending a hand written note is that the person who receives it will most likely save the letter. They might even put it in a scrapbook commemorating the life of the person who passed away. This is important because each time they see the letter, they’ll be reminded of how courteous it was of you to send it, and will appreciate your friendship and kindness even more.
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Richard Pauling
This theme of this article is so true –if we, as polite individuals, are going to share emotions with other human beings, we should try to do this in a way that conveys our true feelings. One of our foibles as human beings is that we often undermine our best intentions by doing a well-intentioned deed in a way that appears to the recipient as a convenience or routine gesture. One of the only reasons that I still own my personalized stationery and recently bought personalized notes from Giftsin24, is because I do send sympathy cards to friends who have suffered a loss in their family, or suffered the loss of a close friend. When I was much younger, one of my friends lost his younger sister in an automobile accident. I did not know what to say to him — the accident was so tragic and it could have easily been prevented by the driver of the car. So I sent Frank an informal note, saying how I felt, and that I hoped that he would not have any more tragedies like this in his future. I hoped that my note would mean something. Well, he did stop me a weeks later and told me that he had received the note, and that it had helped during his grieving process, and that he appreciated it very much. So I agree with the writer about sympathy cards — they are a symbol of our emotions in a way that phone calls, emails, or even (in some cases) personal visits are not. We should share emotions in a genuine way, not the convenient way …
6 March 2010, 10:28 amJuanita Harkins
I agree with Mr. Hoffman’s comments in his essay — it is sometimes better to send a note to a friend who is grieving than to visit the friend in person. The main reason for this is that we often plan to go visit the person, but in the end, we do not do it. It’s better to sit down and write the note and send it, so that you know that you did something to communicate your feelings.
20 March 2010, 5:00 pmAlicia Calderon
I also agree that sending a note can be better than visiting a person in some circumstances. The most important thing is to do SOMETHING to convey your feelings to the person who has suffered a loss.
30 March 2010, 8:30 am