About Sympathy Letters
Sympathy letters are written to express condolences for friends and family members who have lost a loved one. These types of letters are generally sent immediately after notification that a person has died, but can be sent soon after the funeral has occurred as well.
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Function
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People write sympathy letters to provide comfort to those who have lost a loved one. These letters should be personal, written from the heart and should describe how much the deceased person inspired the people around her. Writeexpress.com recommends that people writing sympathy letters discuss the person's strengths and accolades in the letter as well.
Size
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Keep sympathy letters short and sweet. While it may seem appropriate to go on and on about how much you'll miss the deceased person and how much that person meant in your life, it is important to remember that the deceased family will receive many letters of sympathy and cards and that this period of time can be extremely emotional for them. Sympathy letters should be less than a page long.
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Time Frame
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Letters of sympathy should be sent to the family of the deceased as soon as possible after people are notified of the death. These letters can also be sent on the day of the funeral, along with flowers, and shortly after the funeral. Sympathy letters should include contact information and a note offering any help that the family might need.
Considerations
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Sympathy letters can be written on stationary paper, typed up and printed on hard card stock paper or handwritten inside of sympathy cards. When sympathy letters are handwritten, it tends to give the letter more of a personal flair. These types of letters should also include a personal memory of the deceased person if possible, and an acknowledgment of the family's suffering.
Features
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In general, sympathy letters are serious, with no room for jokes and humor. They should first start with a salutation, then an expression of condolence, such as "I am so sorry for your loss." Then, a personal memory should be mentioned or admiration of a particular aspect of the person's life should be expressed. Then, the letter should mention any help that the writer can offer the family, and a close with a sentence offering emotional support to the family and a reiteration of the deceased person's importance to his or her life.
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