Keep Keeping In Touch

The flowers are gone, casseroles no longer fill the freezer, the mailbox contains few if any cards and the phone has gone relatively silent. Weeks, or even months, have passed since your friend has lost their loved one, but the grief is far from gone. Now, more than ever, is the time for you to keep in touch.

When someone dies, there is naturally an initial period of condolences and sympathy from friends, co-workers, acquaintances and distant family members. This can, in fact, become overwhelming as someone deals with the shock of losing a loved one and managing all the funeral arrangements, etc. How to get on with daily life without their loved one is something on which they have had little time to truly focus.

Enter you, your thoughts and kindness. Now is the time that your contribution to your friend’s emotional healing can have a dramatic impact. When someone is grieving, they most likely will not be the one to reach out. They may not even know what they need, so your attentiveness will be unexpected and appreciated.

Reaching out can be as simple as making weekly phone calls, asking your friend out for a tea or coffee, inviting them to a concert or special event, sending them a card or poem, sharing a book that you enjoyed. The options are endless, they needn’t be large or extravagant, just something to say you are thinking of them. Let them know that you understand that their grief is still very real and very strong. Let them know you are there for them.