After the loss of someone close to us, it is common to receive profound sympathy messages from our friends, associates and co-workers. These messages of sympathy not only help us to deal with the pain of our loss and the resultant grieving process, but demonstrates to us how many people care for us, and cared about our dead family member. Lots of people tend to cherish letters of sympathy as tokens, and will read them throughout the laborious time as they reflect on their loss. They are normally stored somewhere special and put in a place of honor, but before doing so, it is good therapy to respond to them.
Don't force yourself to reply, people will appreciate that you aren't up to speaking about the painful sentiments associated with your loss. If you are up to it however, replying to a communication of sympathy affords you the opportunity to express your appreciation for the support you received at such an unhappy time. It will also give you a chance to channel your own feelings, which is probably easier to do in a letter than speaking about your loss.
The right things to say when responding to a sympathy message
There is no set practice in what the contents of a thank you letter for a sympathy message should contain, no hard-fast rules or method of delivery. Some people people have a coordial thank you message posted in a local newspaper a few weeks after the funeral. It can be a personal message from a person, or one on behalf of the family. If you had a particularly special friendship with the deceased, and were especially touched by the sympathy message you received, feel free to write your own personal thank you message, even if one has been proclaimed on behalf of the entire family.
As the letter written to you was an earnest one, so should your acknowledgment. The people who sent you the sympathy messages are experiencing their own level of depression, and an profound soulful thank you note can aid them through their own process of depression. Sometimes people will write about specific memories they had of your family member, include a mention of how those memories helped you to deal with your misfortune. Writing a thank you note is also a way of moving forward with your life, it might be nice to include a suggestion of getting together in due time in order to reconnect with your friend, and re-establish your place in society.
What You Could Say in Your Thank You Letter
If you're still not sure what to say in your sympathy message, perhaps the example below can help you.
Dear Corina,
Thank you so very much for the lovely letter of condolence that you sent me. It was a great help to me during what has been an extremely emotional and difficult span of my life. Your words brought me much sympathy, and the memories you had of Bill warmed my heart and reminded me of my own special times with him.
It meant so much to see you and Malcolm at the funeral service. Knowing I had the support of dear and life-long friends gave me the strength to say goodbye to my beloved and imparted and provided me with a source of hope and inspiration to face what lies ahead. It was especially good to see so many of Malcolm's friends and colleagues come out to say goodbye to their friend and co-worker, whom they obviously loved and respected so much.
I'm slowly beginning to accept what has happened, and I know that I can count on your continued support in the coming months. I look forward to sharing your company and laughing with you again. Maybe we could get together for lunch when I'm ready. Again I thank you so much for coming to the funeral, and most of all your lovely letter.
Yours Truly,
Janet
Sending a message of sympathy is a laborious thing to do, especially if you're not really ready. For those who might require more help in writing their letter, you're welcome to browse the many other examples we have on our website at ObituariesHelp.org. Many of them are for particular circumstances, and we hope they can be a help to you in this grim time.
Author Resource:-
Suzie Kolber recommends ObituariesHelp.org for sympathy quotes, free condolence letters, guides to building a family tree, sample messages of sympathy and condolence, written examples of eulogies as well as help with all aspects of funeral planning.
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