I recently learned that my manager lost his wife in her fight with brain cancer. It will so hard for me to even open up to him and discuss how he was feeling considering he has to be in store almost every day of the week.

I guess the worst part is admitting that they are gone. Sympathy comes easy but its admitting that life goes on that holds us back.

I agree with you Dorian. Even though she did not die, she probably left such a deep embark on his heart that she has become a mere memory. I think death is the same thing. Death is something that we tend to hesitate to talk about even though we understand that we all have to leave this earth. It is about making the difference and showing that side of humanity that really makes you a better person.

My second cousin’s aunt just lost her grandmother. As a young women, it is hard to show those feelings of sympathy as we come from different sphere of lives. She was so special to her. For young women who look up to their elderly relatives for support, the attachment comes naturally. Life for her will be tough but I have a feeling that will solid support of her other family and friends that she will heal.

Wow, yeah I always wondered people who are terminally ill manage to keep courage and still go on with therapy, which again is so difficult to achieve. Cancer patients are very strong but need support, which is crucial for their healing. That is why being compassionate to them really matters because it allows them to have hope and faith.

When I think of death, I think about leaving a legacy. One guy that left legacy was Walter Payton. Not only was he an exceptional athlete but his personality and charisma was exceptional. He set a legacy as a person and had an organization named after him. Payton’s continuous fight with cancer was the only fallacy. Yet, he will always be remembered.

I read a very interesting article about 5 things that nurses recall that discusses what patients say in their deathbed. One of the crucial things they stated was the fact that they wished they spend more time with their loved ones. This was prevalent for individuals who were breadwinners who were so indulged with their work life that everything else became second. That is highly unfortunate considering the fact that most marriages fail because of finances. In a world in which money rules everything, it is hard to understand that life extends beyond work. I remember my first corporate job in sales in which I used to work around 50 hours with kids and a wife. It was something that I knew I could not undergo for much longer.

At times, I really wish I could express the sorrow as a loss often feels very profound and can damage the heart. Personalized sympathetic cards can deliver the message is such a clear manner. The feeling of comforting others is the best thing you can do if someone is suffering with a loss. Telling that someone that you are there for them in time of need is truly the greatest feeling ever.

Regardless of believing in one particular religion, something that I have embraced is the fact that I understand that my loved ones who have passed away are in a better place. As much as we think that this world is our only destination, we must have hope that they are in a better place indeed. One must understand that the second part of journey has just begun. Life holds many facets and Earth is just one of them.

If death meant just leaving the stage long enough to change costume and come back as a new character…Would you slow down? Or speed up?” Would you be remembered?

Writer Chuck Palahniuk

Let the gesture of a Funeral Note, speak for itself…….

Jackie Cooper Died May 2011

Jackie Cooper died this past year in May 2011. He was 88 and started appearing in movies as an extra at the ripe old age of 3. He joined the “Our Gang “crew after he became a professional at 7. At age 9 he became the youngest performer ever to receive an Academy Award Nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his role in Skippy (1931).

He remained the youngest actor ever nominated for “nearly fifty years” until Justin Henry was nominated at age 8 for his work as Best Supporting Actor in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979).

Jackie Cooper was born in Los Angeles, CA in Sept. 14, 1922 to Mabel Bigelow on Sept. 14, 1922 who raised him as a single parent after his father John Cooper left them at age two. It was no fluke that Jackie ended up making a name for himself in the business. It’s just the age he started and the scope of his career will surprise more than a few despite his familial connections. His mother was a stage pianist and a former child star in the early 1900s. His mother’s brother Jack was a screen writer and their sister was an actress married to Norman Taurog. His uncle would later direct him in his Oscar nominated performance. His stepfather would be a studio production manager. His career was not written in the stars but how could’ve anyone foreseen that he would work over sixty-years in the film business to become one of its last great monuments. He worked from the age of silent films to the present, retiring in 1989.

Young Jackie Cooper was “the most popular, recognized child star of the 1930s.” That means nothing to this generation or the fact that he paved the way for Shirley Temple’s success. He was the” first kid to shine in talkies.” He shined in Hal Roaches’ “Our Gang” and uniquely so in every project he was cast in there after, as kids often do. Though his relationship with Wallace Berry in The Champ, The Bowery and Treasure Island seemed like a match made in Hollywood heaven, according to Cooper it was not. Cooper worked as a child and teenager. He later opposed ” children growing up as actors.” Before returning to work in the late 50s and 60s he joined the Navy and became a captain during WWII. Much has been said, more has bern written.

Over the course of his career he acted, operated as president of program development at Columbia, diercted dozens of episodic TV projects and later returned to acting in features and fame in the late 70s and 80s as Perry White in the Supernan series starring Christopher Reeves. During his time as president of development of Colunbia he helped package Bewitched, cast Sally Field as Gidget and acted on the Twilight Zone. He would also go on to gain fame directing dozens of “eposodic television series”: Black Sheep Squadron, Quincy, M.E., Cagney & Lacey and Sledge Hammer. He won Enny Awards for his role in Mash and the White Shadow. His dance with destiny never quite ended even in 1989 when he’d retired. He was still directing episodes for the syndicated series Superboy. When he died this past May his attorney Roger Licht said, ” he just kinda died of old age.” “He wore out.” If that is indeed the case he surely had given audiences enough to last more than this lifetime through to the next. He received a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame in 1960, fifty two years ago, way before a lot of us were born.

Most audience of this generation haven’t heard or seen the movies for which he first became famous: the Champ( 1931), Treasure Island (1934) or Skippy (1931). Fortunately the films, the performaces and memories haven’t worn out. You can see exactly how they’ve contributed to the modern genre, how they have been immortalized for countless generations to come how his contributions shall not be forgotten.

“Sincerity” does not mean sticking to a person
when u don’t have any option
sincerity means keeping some one as a daily reminder even with options”

So beautiful, something my grandmother used to say to my grand father used to say after she underwent a heart surgery. After 6 years of battling cancer, she finally rested in peace. What a wonderful couple..

Wow this is awfully nice of her. I wonder how she was feeling to show that gesture. That is Sympathy and gratitude in a very pure form.

Things are not often planned in life. Death is a cycle of life that we should all embrace. Fortunately, cards are a great way to express our deepest sympathies.

I interestingly found this as I was browsing the internet but it is so true…

“All men fear death. It’s a natural fear that consumes us all. We fear death because we feel that we haven’t loved well enough or loved at all, which ultimately are one and the same. However, when you make love with a truly great woman, one that deserves the utmost respect in this world and one that makes you feel truly powerful, that fear of death completely disappears. Because when you are sharing your body and heart with a great woman the world fades away. You two are the only ones in the entire universe. You conquer what most lesser men have never conquered before, you have conquered a great woman’s heart, the most vulnerable thing she can offer to another. Death no longer lingers in the mind. Fear no longer clouds your heart. Only passion for living, and for loving, become your sole reality. This is no easy task for it takes insurmountable courage. But remember this, for that moment when you are making love with a woman of true greatness you will feel immortal.”

As a devout Christian, Sympathy is crucial channel for expressing the trials and pain that are inflicted upon us. Whenever there is a death in the community, sympathy allows individuals to truly connect with another individual at a very high-level. At the end, you just have to hope for the best and let the healing process begin.

“At the end of 2009, a lot of dark things happened in my life. I lost my job and we had floods in Chennai. I was going through a lot of stress in my work. At that point of time, I discovered my love for music and poetry as I began to compile variations of my work. It really turned my life from doing worst things such as drugs and alcohol.

It is just one of those days when I am in my office really missing my wife and kids. The work load has here gotten so hefty that I always have to work overtime. By the time I get home, it is so difficult to spend time with my family, which in return has clashed with our family time. I think its important for married couples to have little dates or send that cute text because something so little can make just a drastic difference.

It is funny how I was just thinking that when we are young, we are so carefree. Yes we are attached to our parents but we are so engaging in exploring the world that we cherish the moment. However once we get older, everything just changes. We worry more due to many factors and get quickly attached to others. That itself is our downfall. Whether its divorce, death, or anything else, it ultimately leaves us with an imprint in our heart.

We always strive for others to love us and when we don’t have it, we blame ourselves or others for not being able to find love. In actuality, love should start within first. First love yourself, love every part of you within, love your strengths and your weaknesses and in that find that inner peace. Once you grasp inner contentment, you will become a bloomed flower that will ultimately lure all the birds and the bees to come nest in your petals. It happens naturally rather than forced. Don’t spend all your time reaching out, try reaching in and inevitably it will reach ou

Sympathy is defined as: an affinity, association, or relationship between persons or things wherein whatever affects one similarly affects the other or a mutual or parallel susceptibility or a condition brought about by it .

” Some who seek sympathy, clearly only seek to be understood.”

Writer: Henry Springs

Chicago Mourns Maggie Daley 1943 – 2011

I must admit I didn’t know much about Mrs. Maggie Daley other than she was married to the former Mayor of the City of Chicago, Richard M Daley. I knew She was being treated for some form of cancer. Maggie Daley had been diagnosed with breast cancer more than nine years ago. Her story reminds me of one of those people in your congregation or connected circle of people who you only wish you knew more about after they died. You are privy to glimpses. You see why she achieved more notoriety, a much more individual presence after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002 and underwent chemotherapy. Maggie Daily remained “strong and positive” and was a guiding light of hope for many cancer survivors who refused to let the disease take everything that was their life away from them. A funeral is the perfect time when a Funeral Note or a will honor her and her family’s memory in the most respectable way.
Maggie Daley’s plight with cancer inspired many. She was ” seen as a woman who fought the battle with dignity and grace” never letting the illness eclipse her bright spirit. She inspired cancer patients locally and nationally. Her way of life and commitment for women to explore “as many options” as they could prompted the establishment of the Maggie Daley Center for Cancer Care Women at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. She was one of those boundless personalities that continued to give through the examples and standards she set as well as with financial contributions. Her daughter Elizabeth’s wedding was moved up a few months . She was present for it on Nov. 17 and died at 68 on Nov.24th. She was said to have been at peace with herself and the disease. A perfect thought to mention in a Funeral or Sympathy Note to let the family know you wish to send something comforting in their time of loss.
Much of Mrs. Daley’s Life was spent in the shadow of Richard M Daley. Ironically much of his formative years were spent in the shadow of Richard J Daley who held the office of Mayor of the city of Chicago from 1955 to 1976, until he died. It was amidst all of these larger than life personas and historical political logistics that the name Maggie Daley was born. It appears many Chicagoans and Americans felt she had a particular bond to their lives. She was diagnosed and battled breast Cancer and its return. She was a mother , a wife and a political activist just as she moved many mothers, husbands and families trying to make sense of a city, a country that sometimes didn’t seem to be changing for the better with a zeal for life and a knack for beating the odds. She was a voice and a figure whose actions could matter and did. She was a champion of numerous other programs: After School Matters, the Chicago Cultural Center, additional education programs and Cancer awareness programs in general. If she could let her light shine with the examples of her life you surely can with a Sympathy or Acknowledgment Note and let them be reflective of them in yours.

Listening is probably the best advice and of course a card. Also just physically being there sometimes helps because touch can often soothe along with written words, where spoken words can be too much for some.

This is very good advice and it seems simple yet when you are the one who has suffered the loss, it is not as easy to remember to do these things as you think. Very helpful post thanks!

My family and I always make sure we have plenty of stationery but also we tend to always give someone who has lost someone a sympathy card because we would appreciate it, so they probably will too. It’s a very good way to keep you on your toes!

You can never do enough for someone when they have lost someone close. Sympathy cards are sometimes the only thing you can do if the person is in great despair. We use them and find that they always are appreciated.