Category: Sympathy Cards

Business Sympathy Cards Touch the Heart

When someone experiences the loss of a loved one, business sympathy cards can bring to light how many other lives have been impacted by this individual. Receiving acknowledgement from someone’s co-workers touches the heart as it reveals an often unknown group of people that share the loss of your dearly departed. We all know the effects of the loss on friends and family but hearing from outside this group can be very special indeed.

I recently lost a very dear friend of many years. After the services were over, her husband approached me and asked if I would help him choose appropriate thank you cards. He wanted to send a message of thanks in response to the many thoughtful  sympathy cards that had been sent to him from his wife’s co-workers and clients. He told me that he had received an astonishing amount of approximately 300 business related cards! He knew only a few of these people and was overwhelmed by the kindness and caring these cards represented.

Business greeting cards, in general, show appreciation and respect for people we work with, who work for us, and who we work for. That respect and appreciation exhibited through a business sympathy card is a way to show someone how much their dear one meant to others. It’s a simple way to touch the heart.

Personal Sympathy Cards Were Gratefully Received

Throughout the course of my life, I’ve sent many personal sympathy cards to friends, relatives, and co-workers. I’ve also been on the receiving end, having lost several family members over the last several years. But I was quite surprised to receive sympathy cards for a recently deceased family member. You might be wondering why I was surprised, considering the fact that sending sympathy cards is a pretty common practice here in the United States. But this “family member” was actually a pet. Spike was with us for 17 years! That’s longer than most marriages these days, so it was with great sadness we were faced with ending his suffering.

Pets don’t live as long as humans but the sadness felt can be the same. I know people will say he was just a cat, but he was more. He was a sounding board when I needed to vent, a comfort when I felt sad, and a clown who could make me laugh. While the whole family felt sadness with the decision that had to be made, no one was sadder than my 19-year-old daughter. Spike had been a part of her life for as long as she could remember. So the sympathy card that arrived a few days later from our vet was gratefully received.

Having Business Sympathy Cards on Hand is a Necessity in the Workplace

I’ve experienced many unusual events as a result of the death of a business coworker, the passing of a friend, or the “going home” of a family member. Deep within there is an earnest desire to convey love and friendship to those closely connected, or a sincere sense of gratitude and respect for the privilege of working with a recently passed, fellow employee. At least there are many comforting business sympathy cards to choose from to express thoughts from the heart, especially when some might feel uncomfortable or awkward around the subject.

There was once the tragic accidental death of an Indian coworker, struck down in the prime of life as a result of a local train accident as she headed to work one morning. The whole company was in shock. The executives did not know how to continue with day-to-day business, how to act, what to say. Her damaged briefcase was recovered from the scene and delivered to the office. A grief counselor was brought in to assist warehouse and office employees. There was a Hindi funeral service that followed where people wore white instead of black, then a cremation ceremony. You see, it’s not all about business, it’s about people.

At another job, a catalog phone rep lost her husband in a matter of hours with what started off as a simple headache after their children’s softball game. Dad was the coach. The profound sadness on her face when she returned to work will forever be etched in my memory. Before her husband’s death her everyday joy of life was so incredibly cheerful and energetic. Her smile radiated beneath a full head of blonde curls. I thought she must have been the luckiest lady in the world with the best husband, family, and marriage. Now her grief was so vast that no one could approach her; no one knew what to say as she sat alone at her workstation. Beautiful company sympathy cards came her way to ease her heart, if only to quietly read how respected and loved her husband was, and that there were people she worked with who cared even though they may not have known how to say it face to face.

The cards were a means of offering her active, conscious support. She knew she was still loved and accepted on the job even though her personal grief would have to take months and years to process.

Sympathy Cards Express Heartfelt Sentiment

We have all experienced the loss of a beloved family member or a cherished friend. Often the sadness felt during these times of bereavement can be overwhelming. Always welcome are visitors who come to share in our sorrow and lend their support. They bring caring embraces, handshakes and words of comfort. Most of them also bring sympathy cards which they have placed neatly on a table near a memoriam of photos celebrating the life of the departed. Without a word being spoken, a sympathy card can convey what we would like to express in an understated way.

A sympathy card can express, in simple fashion, our sincere heartfelt sentiment. The message is usually a short, simple statement. A phrase. A sentence. Perhaps a short Bible verse. Whatever the content of the card it is sure to show the reader you care.

Sometimes when information concerning one’s death reaches us it is too late to show our support in person. Visitation schedules have passed, funeral arrangements have been made, and on occasion, we are too many miles away. Mailing a sympathy card shows that you care enough to share and express your feelings for another during their grieving period. Whether it be a family member or friend, co-worker or client, a neighbor or local shopkeeper, classic sympathy cards can state your feelings without a word having been spoken.

Design #103AE – Brushstroke Sympathy

If you’re looking to purchase business sympathy cards, design #103AE, Brushstroke Sympathy Greeting Card, is very appropriate. The design is a very simple and elegant expression of sympathy. It conveys an almost heavenly feeling to anyone who receives it. The Gallery Collection always expresses the proper message of condolence that you would want to send to anyone who is grieving. Whether they are sympathy cards or Christmas cards, you can count on them being beautiful and tasteful. The soft blue foil against the sweeping brushstroke has just the right touch of color so it does not look sad or dull.

Design #103AE - Brushstroke Sympathy Greeting Card
Design #103AE - Brushstroke Sympathy
Greeting Card

This is a very appropriate card to send on either a personal level or from a business to its clients, customers, or employees. The sympathy greetings provided by The Gallery Collection are simply and eloquently phrased and are appropriate for either business or personal use as well.

Soothing Sympathy Cards with Butterflies and Lilies

When sending business sympathy cards you need to think simple but elegant, and design #316AY, Graceful Sympathy Card, is an appropriate fit. You shouldn’t send a card that is too colorful and busy. After all, we know it is a very difficult time for your friend or co-worker. This design is printed on cream colored stock on recycled paper. It is a beautiful card, with a large blue butterfly poised on an intertwining vine with small pale green leaves. The butterfly appears to be ready for flight. You can almost picture yourself sitting alone in a small park thinking about the past and wondering about the future. Your recipient will find this card very comforting and soothing.

Design #316AY - Graceful Sympathy Card
Design #316AY - Graceful Sympathy Card

Business sympathy cards are one of the hardest cards to send. Design #098AY, Sympathy Water Lilies Card, can help make this process easier. You want to let your recipient know how much you feel for his or her loss and that they are in your thoughts, but you have to make sure you do this in a very gentle way…and this card is very gentle. It is done on a cream colored stock with two white pearlized water lilies perched on light green lily pads.

Design #098AY - Sympathy Water Lilies Greeting Card
Design #098AY - Sympathy Water Lilies
Greeting Card

This is a very reflective design. How many times have you sat by the edge of the water and stared out thinking of past memories, good and precious times you shared with your loved ones, and maybe wishing you could still have them here to create even more memories. This is the type of card that can make you feel inspired.

Either one of these sympathy cards would be appropriate to send and very much appreciated.

It’s Not Easy Choosing Business Sympathy Cards

It would be difficult to find practical instructions in any etiquette book for choosing and sending business sympathy cards. When a close personal friend loses a loved one, or when someone we have personally known dies and we want to reach out to that person’s grieving family, we act on instinct. For these personal expressions of sympathy, we phone and we visit, and we are often used to making a special trip to personally pick out a suitable sympathy card. Or, perhaps we write a personal note of some length. Or, maybe we just go directly to sending a floral arrangement or fruit basket.

When selecting business sympathy cards, however, we are preparing ahead of time to offer condolences to and about a variety of people with whom we may have only a passing acquaintance. We are also making a selection that will reflect upon our company and the many differing people affiliated with our company. And yet, the very reason for sending a card lets us know that a brusque, business-like style would be inappropriate for the situation.

What to do?! I suggest consideration of one of the two sympathy cards I’m about to mention. Both are of a very dignified size and quality. Both designs reflect simplicity and gentility, which are soothing elements in the expression of condolences.

Design #341AR, Sympathy Lilies Card, strikes a sensitive balance between formality and gentleness. Its embossed framing leaves a clean white margin. The hint of soft lavender in the frame is also used to add three-dimensional shadowing to the lilies. The graceful curling petals and leaves are deeply sculpted for, not only visual depth, but a tactile sense of comfort. The natural shades of green and muted yellow, with coral-colored anther on the stamen, provide an easy focus for weary eyes.

Design #341AR - Sympathy Lilies Card
Design #341AR - Sympathy Lilies Card

A tad more formal, design #376AY, In Sympathy Card, is softened with a flowing gold foil script. Set on creamy ecru matte-finish card stock, it has a subtly embossed fine double framing. A muted contrast of marbleized pearl rectangle backs the facial script, for a sense of greater depth. This is a very correct and dignified representation for your company’s expression of sympathy to business associates or clients.

Design #376AY - In Sympathy Card
Design #376AY - In Sympathy Card

In either design, your use of a simple verse that is not overdone or presumptuous, with your company name clearly imprinted below the verse, will be entirely proper and welcome. A handwritten salutation or very brief note and/or single personal signature will warm your sentiments when the situation seems appropriate.

Sympathy Cards for Famous Families at Times of Sorrow

Has anyone ever sent out sympathy cards to the family of a celebrity or some other famous person’s family after hearing of a death of someone prominent? With the deaths recently – on successive days – of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson, I began to wonder how many of their fans might take it upon themselves to grab some sympathy cards and send them out to the celebrities’ grieving families. More than likely, there are probably quite a few.

As Johnny Carson’s sidekick for over 30 years, Ed McMahon came into our homes on a daily basis…remember the show Who Do You Trust, and of course, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, where we knew him as that guffawing sidekick who made Johnny look so good. Later, after Jay Leno took over the show, Ed went on to host several popular programs, helped out Jerry Lewis each year on the Labor Day telethon, and even became a pitchman for Publishers Clearinghouse. The thing about Ed was, you could trust him…at least I did.

As for Farrah Fawcett, was there anyone from the 1970s who was more beautiful? (My personal choice would be her Charlie’s Angels replacement, Cheryl Ladd, but that’s another argument altogether.) Anyway, Farrah’s poster showing her great smile while wearing a sexy, one-piece bathing suit was what helped catapult her to super-stardom. She went on to become a very good actress and was always considered a respectful member of the show business community by the way she carried herself and the seriousness as to how she viewed her craft.

Michael Jackson’s existence was filled with contradictions. He was hugely talented at age 10 as the lead singer with his brothers in the Jackson 5, and became the biggest star in the world during the 1980s and 1990s with the albums “Thriller” and “Bad.” His benevolence and immense amount of charitable work and generosity added to his status as a pop icon. Unfortunately, his sometimes bizarre behavior, his idiosyncrasies, as well as allegations of child molestation put a damper on how he was viewed in later years.

All three deaths are sad, regardless of whether they were anticipated – either because of a lingering illness at an old age, a long battle with a deadly cancer, or in Jackson’s case, a death heard about from a special report on the news (or not). These people all perhaps had mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and sons and daughters who cared about them and are feeling a great loss after their loved one’s death. Deciding to help make someone who is grieving feel better by reaching out with sympathy cards is a wonderful thing to do.

What to Write in your Sympathy Cards

I have sent many sympathy cards, too many as far as I am concerned, but that is a part of life. Each time I sit down to convey my condolences I get stumped, so I let a nicely imprinted sympathy card help so that my message can be short. When composing your message, keep in mind that less is more. A brief phrase like “Our thoughts and prayers are with you” or “Our deepest sympathies” is enough for now. A few weeks after the funeral, sending thinking of you cards is appropriate. At that time you can write about a fond memory of the deceased or how much they meant to you.

Unfortunately, I have also been the recipient of many sympathy cards so I know first hand that they are welcomed and appreciated. When a loved one is acknowledged in death, the survivors learn how much that person was liked and how well they were thought of during their time with us. Receiving company sympathy cards for the deceased is especially heart warming as most of the deceased’s time was probably spent at work. When sending business sympathy cards to your co-workers Emily Post writes:

There is no set formula as to what to say. Only one rule should guide you in writing letters of condolence: Say what you truly feel. Your clear expression of sympathy and caring for your co-worker is what matters the most. Sit down at your desk as soon as you hear of the death and let your thoughts be with your coworker as you write.

Business Sympathy Cards Let Others Know you Care

Suffering the loss of a loved one is devastating and each of us grieves that loss in our own way. However, when that loss affects a dear friend or business colleague, you want to reach out and just let them know they are in your thoughts. Sending business sympathy cards is the ideal way to do that without being invasive. It doesn’t intrude on a very private time, yet sends the message that someone shares their pain.

Having an elegant, classic assortment box of sympathy cards on hand, appropriate for personal or business use, would be ideal. Just as perfect as they are with a simple, heartfelt sentiment, there is also enough room for a personalized note, lending a warm, heartfelt touch. Sometimes just knowing others are remembering you at such a difficult time helps the pain a bit.