Writing thank you notes is usually one of the very first “after the funeral” tasks you will undertake.  You may be surprised to find that your brain/hand coordination is not working so well.  You sit there pen in hand with well formed thoughts in your head but somehow it all gets lost between the head and the paper.   Don’t despair, this is normal, it’s all part of the grief journey.  You are not thinking straight now, but you will again soon.

First, let’s tackle who gets a “thank you” and then I can give you a few wordy ideas to help you get started.  Anyone who made a donation or sent flowers should get a thank you note from a family member.  You will also want to send a note to people who helped. Maybe they provided food, or took care of the dog for you or picked up people at the airport.  All of those folks should receive a note of thanks.  You do not need to send notes to people who sent condolence cards, emails, or texts.

Your words can be brief no one expects a long letter from you at this time.  It is just nice to know that the flowers arrived or the donation was received. Your kind friends just need to hear thank you.

Thank you for all your kindness ….

Your help meant so much to us….

We all loved the broccoli, thank you for taking care of us ….

Your flowers were so beautiful and such a comfort to us ….

At our house it was the day after the funeral, we all sat around the kitchen table to write the thank you notes, we tore up more than a few and we laughed at ourselves. That was the first laughter heard in our house in several days.