As many of you know from this thread, my father passed away last week. I have received many sympathy cards from friends and co-workers. I want to acknowlege them, but a thank you card for a sympathy card seems like overkill. What do dopers think?
Just thank them in person when you see them. Frankly, when a parent or someone else close to you passes away, a person would have to be a real schmuck to be put off if someone in mourning didn’t follow up a card or a casserol with a THank You note - you’ve got more important things on your mind.
I would have to agree here. Just thank them in person or give them a call and let them know how much their cards meant to you. This will ensure that they at least know that you have received their condolences and they won’t think you just shrugged off their sentiment.
Well, OK, I am old-fashioned . . . But among my set, one sends a small, simple card (either from a box of thank-you cards, or one of those nice blank-inside cards with appropriate artwork or photo on the front) and simply write something like, “your kind words were much appreciated.”
Grief is no excuse for rudeness, and no one will mind if the card comes two or three months from now . . . Your “thanks” will make you shine in their estimation.
–Emily Post-Vanderbilt
I agree with Eve in theory, but when my father died I was too wrecked for too long to make sending thank-yous to the people who’d sent me condolences. My mother ordered me to do it, but much as I’d have liked to comply, it was all I could do to go to work and eat for about two years.
If all you received was a sympathy card saying something like, “Sorry for your loss” then in my opinion, you don’t need to thank a person for a card. If someone sent money or brought you a meal or something like that, then you “should” send them a thank you note.
According to Miss Manners, you should send thank-you notes for sympathy cards. She says that, among other things, this gives the bereaved something to focus on when their foundations are shaken.