ObituariesHelp.org

• 1Tasteful Sympathy Gifts - order fruit baskets, sympathy food baskets and sympathy fruit baskets
• 2Sympathy Flowers - order flowers online for delivery to home, funeral home or hospital
• 3Sympathy Words and Sayings - sympathy sayings and sympathy words of condolence, for mom, dad, brother, sister, grandparents and more.
• 4Condolence Phrases - condolence cards and letter ideas
• 5Sample Letter of Sympathy Condolence - samples for many situations and people.
• 6Words of Condolences - cards and letter examples
• 7Condolence Message Samples - messages of support to the family of the deceased.
• 8Free Condolence Letters - condolence letters you can copy.
• 9Sample Letter of Sympathy - words to offer your sympathy.
• 10Messages of Sympathy - messages of sympathy cards and letters.
• 11Words of Comfort for Sympathy - Words to say that comfort people.
• 12Eulogy Poem Samples - free poems for eulogies, sympathy cards and funeral readings
• 13Funeral Readings - selected poems, prose and verses for funerals and sympathy cards

Our Condolence Examples – Spotting the Do's and Don'ts of Writing Condolence Letters in these Condolence Examples

Condolence examples such as the ones we have listed above can serve as a guide to writing letters of sympathy. It can be hard to find the words to express your sympathy to someone who has lost a loved one to death, especially if you are grieving yourself. Blurting out the wrong thing at the wrong time is common under such times of difficulty, but consulting our condolence examples can help you to avoid such an unfortunate occurrence. Before you begin perusing the examples we have, let's take a look at the do's and don'ts of expressing condolences, and how that is demonstrated in our condolence examples.

Condolence examples such as the ones we have listed above can serve as a guide to writing letters of sympathy. It can be hard to find the words to express your sympathy to someone who has lost a loved one to death, especially if you are grieving yourself. Blurting out the wrong thing at the wrong time is common under such times of difficulty, but consulting our condolence examples can help you to avoid such an unfortunate occurrence. Before you begin perusing the examples we have, let's take a look at the do's and don'ts of expressing condolences, and how that is demonstrated in our condolence examples.

When you begin browsing through our condolence examples, you will notice that they are written in letter form. These condolence samples are suitable for writing on cards accompanying sympathy gifts and sympathy flowers, or as a short letter on their own. They are designed to express your condolences in an appropriate way, and though each is written for a specific instance, they all contain the same basic characteristics. They are:

• Short
• Heartfelt
• Sincere
• Follow Proper Etiquette

Let's take a look at two condolence examples and see if you can spot the one that might be considered inappropriate as a sympathy message. Both letters are for the same circumstance, and employer is sending a message of condolence to the family of one of his employees who has died.

Spotting the Do's and Don'ts: Condolence Example 1:

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Donovan,

It is with this letter I send my sincerest condolences on the death of your son Michael. Michael worked for me for seven years and I never had a single problem with him. He was a devoted employee and a fantastic co-worker. He was a very skilled carpenter and was very proud of the fact that he learned his trade from his grandfather. His heritage was very important to him.

I want you to know that everyone here at Finder's Furniture will miss him dearly, and the entire Finder's family send their regrets.

If there is anything I can do in assisting with the arrangements please let me know. Everyone here will be happy to help. I do have some large tables you might find useful for the wake. I will contact the funeral director to find out where I should deliver them.

Michael also left some belongings here; I will bring them round myself on Saturday evening.

Again, pleased accept our deepest sympathies, your son did you proud,

Sincerely

Lionel Finder

Spotting the Do's and Don'ts: Condolence Example 2:

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Donovan,

It is with this letter I send my sincerest condolences on the death of your son Michael. Michael worked for me for seven years and I never had a single problem with him, except that one time I caught him stealing. Other than that he was a devoted employee and a fair enough co-worker. He was very proud of the fact that he learned his trade from his grandfather, and though I've seen better carpenters, I'm still sad that he is gone.

I want you to know that everyone here at Finder's Furniture will miss him dearly, and the entire Finder's family send their regrets.

If there is anything I can do in assisting with the arrangements please let me know. Everyone here will be happy to help. I do have some large tables you might find useful for the wake. You can pick them up anytime you like.

Michael also left some belongings here; you could pick them up at the same time.

Again, pleased accept our deepest sympathies, your son did you proud,

Sincerely

Lionel Finder

Analysis of The Condolence Examples

As you can tell, our condolence examples are two possible ways a letter of condolence could be written for the same circumstance. In the first condolence example you will notice that the writer included many Do's, and consequently the letter would be well received. What the writer did correctly is:

• Expressed his sympathy clearly and early in the letter
• Spoke highly of the deceased
• Made mention of the deceased's pride in his family
• Extended the condolences of his other employees
• Made a specific offer of help

In the second condolence example the writer mentioned some things he shouldn't have. Did you spot them? They are:

• Mentioned something negative about the deceased (his theft)
• Minimized his qualifications
• Offered help, but left it up to the deceased's family to follow up on it

When people are grieving they will be sensitive to anything negative mentioned or implied about their loved one. Though the writer of the letter in Example 2 probably wanted to show he had forgiven their son, he did it in an inappropriate way at a most inappropriate time. A condolence letter isn't the forum for settling old feuds, debts or arguments, and stick to its objective – giving comfort. Keep these important points in mind when you're writing your own condolence messages, and use them together with the format we've outlined in out above condolence examples.