
How to support a grieving widow?
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Send Care Packages
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Help your friend or family member feel special with sweet care packages sent at random times throughout the year.​
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Include self-care items like bath salts, lotions, and facial masks to help her relax.
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Send journals or relatable inspirational books with her favorite snacks or drinks
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Make a Standing Date Night
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Pick a day out of the month or week and ask if it can be a standing "date" for you and your friend or family member.​
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Stay consistent.
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Don't put so much pressure on going somewhere. Sometimes the company is needed over the venue or outing.
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Suggest Ways to Help Rather Than Ask
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To help them out, try not to say, “What can I do to help?” Instead try, “I’d like to come over on Saturday afternoon to weed your garden. Is that ok?”
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As a widow, in the thick of grief, sometimes we forget what we need. The wording goes a long way.
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Mark Your Calendar with those Important Dates
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Send a card, call/text, or show up to their home on those special dates:
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Anniversaries ​
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Birthdays
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Holidays
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Angelversarys/Dates their spouse passed away
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Share memories, videos, or picture
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By continuing the legacy, it makes a widow not feel so alone. Remembering their loved ones makes them not feel alone.
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You may think if you bring them up, it will upset the widow. Truth is, the widow is most likely thinking of life, their spouse/partner, or the "what should be"-so by talking about them doesn't upset them. Instead it probably makes them feel good about hearing someone us think of their person.
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What not to say to a widow
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It was their time
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​Your young, you'll get married again
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I know what it's like. I've been divorced
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Provide Compassion, Not Pity
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You're still crying over their death?​
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Be grateful for the time you were married
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You must stay strong for your children
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Don’t feel bad, your spouse is no longer in pain
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Everything happens for a reason
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What are your plans for their personal belongings?
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I know what you’re going through (then start talking about your own loss)