Sympathy Words: Writing Words of Sympathy and Comfort
BY MELANIE WALTERS

Losing someone you love or knowing that someone close to you has lost someone they love can be difficult. When we attend the wake at the funeral home and see people that we haven’t seen for quite a while, we try to comfort those who are grieving with words of sympathy and actions that are comforting. For those who are unable to attend these gatherings, they often will write sympathy letters or cards in order to express their thoughts and wishes of comfort. The web site www.ObituariesHelp.org has examples of sympathy words that can be used in these cards and letters.

Writing Words of Sympathy is Easier than You Think.

A little empathy and some reflection on those memories that you have of the deceased can help you in writing your words of sympathy. Their loved ones often find great comfort in reading about these happy times and take great comfort in them. You can always go to www.ObituariesHelp.org to help you with what to write in a sympathy card or letter.

When you write sympathy words and condolence letters, you need to remember to be sympathetic. People who lose a loved one suffer a great deal of emotional pain and need to know that someone else is experiencing the same degree of hurt. Placing yourself in their situation and imagining how they feel can help you to find the right words.

In order to maintain your sincerity when writing a sympathy letter, keep it simple and don’t use language that is too flowery or over-descriptive.

More on Keeping it Simple

You should also refrain from writing long letters of sympathy. Some who people who are grieving may not want to read an extensive letter at it can take a lot of effort at a time of mourning. Choose your sympathy words wisely and express in a simple sentence or two the extent to which you will miss the deceased and will always remember the good times that you both shared.

Always keep what you say about the deceased to happy memories and say how much that person affected you and what his or her death means to you. The family and friends of the deceased like to read about how someone else’s life was changed by the deceased and to read such words as faithful, kind, devoted or patient about that person.

People grieve in their own individual ways so refrain from offering generic advice like “Keep your chin up!” People in mourning can find words like these very contrived and insincere as they have probably heard words like these many times before.

Consider Offering More than Words

In addition to your sympathy cards and letters, consider helping out those who are grieving. They may find it more difficult than normal to do basic household chores so going to the store or making dinner may be greatly appreciated at this time.

It is important to remember to write words of sympathy that are sincere as anything else can be more harmful than helpful. Your words need to be considerate of the person in mourning and may not want to hear words that many others before you have said to them just for the sake of saying something they feel is appropriate. Finding the right words can help someone know that you are thinking of them and understand their feelings. Using sample letters from www.ObituariesHelp.org can help you to express your feelings to those in mourning when you are unsure of what to write.