What is the best sympathy gift for the loss of a loved one?
October 7, 2020
When someone I care about has lost a loved one I want to honor them with a thoughtful and unique sympathy gift. Something more than flowers or a charitable donation. A condolence gift that is loving and helpful. An appropriate sympathy gift.
But what really helps? Grief is a walk we must take alone, so comfort is hard to come by. Still, when I give a sympathy gift, I want it to help bring a bit of peace.
So, what do you bring to a grieving person? The best bereavement gifts are:
. Supportive . Gentle . Beautiful . Unique
My own fruitless search for a sympathy gift that met those criteria was the genesis of the grief toolsover at A Healing Spirit. Like you and us all, I’ve experienced great loss and know, myself, how hard grief is. It can paralyze us, at least at first.
The only way to get past that stage is to go through it. Feelings must be processed, whether we’ve experienced the loss of a father, the loss of a mother or a child.
But we might not want to talk about it. Recognizing this, I developed the Guided Journal Through Grief. Each page of this beautiful, compact, spiral bound journal provides a safe, private place to work through feelings of loss and honor the memory of our loved one with words, photos, drawings–any form of expression.
A recent customer bought three in a single week, emailing me, “I know I keep buying these but I just lost my brother — my family loves mine and wanted their own.”
Another supportive grief tool is our Releasing Grief Affirmation Deck. Each of the 50 cards has a thought or affirmation meant to help process grief. Start the day with a thought or meditate on it. The cards are packaged in a pretty organza bag and like all of our products, are budget-friendly. Here is an example of one of the cards:
The journal and affirmation deck are available individually OR as part of a grief gift. The small grief gift includes our affirmations, a small, heart-shaped candle and a gift card for only $19.99. The large gift has both the journal and card deck, the candle, and an Apache tear obsidian stone, which helps with grief. We’ll add your message to the gift card or use our standard one. Shipped anywhere in the U.S.
When you ask yourself “what do you bring to a grieving person?” i hope you’ll consider these meaningful, supportive and beautiful condolence gift ideas.
I’ve bought the Grief gift pack before and the recipient loved it. She had been thinking about journaling through her daughter’s death and was glad to receive it. She put the grief cards out in her living room and encouraged others to use them as well.
[…] So much loss all around us since last year, and many of us have sought helpful ways to support those who have suffered loss. Carol Cassara always looked for a gift that would be helpful, something beyond flowers or a donation. And when she couldn’t find one, she developed her own. Everyone who receives one reports how it helps them process grief. It’s never too late to send condolence gifts, either, because grieving is a long journey. Read about what Carol did in What’s the Best Sympathy Gift? […]
Here you’ll find my blog, some of my essays, published writing, and my solo performances. There’s also a link to my Etsy shop for healing and grief tools offered through A Healing Spirit.
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When someone I care about has lost a loved one I want to honor them with a thoughtful and unique sympathy gift. Something more than flowers or a charitable donation. A condolence gift that is loving and helpful. An appropriate sympathy gift.
So, what do you bring to a grieving person? The best bereavement gifts are:
Yes, a journal is a wonderful gift for grief, but for any occasion because taking thoughts out of the head and putting down on paper is vital.
Absolutely. What’s different about this is that it is guided, with prompts meant to help process grief.
I’ve bought the Grief gift pack before and the recipient loved it. She had been thinking about journaling through her daughter’s death and was glad to receive it. She put the grief cards out in her living room and encouraged others to use them as well.
Writing down memories is a wonderful keepsake for the writer and their family. Beautiful gift ideas.
Thank you so much, Meryl!
Your grief affirmation emails were very cool. They were very helpful.
What a great set of tools for grieving. Thanks you for developing them.