The Grief Business: Sympathy Gift Baskets
The grief business is a unique form of industry that is almost certainly bigger in the United States than anywhere else in the world. To some, making money in this situation is considered unethical. However, with the pace of life today and the constancy of the focus on financial success, there are many who need some help in meeting the demands of the moment. A commercially available sympathy gift basket might fit nicely as a rather specialized gift. Indeed, if it is done in an appropriate way it might actually bring some relief to the parties as you intend.
An Appropriate Personalized Gift
In most of the world, a time of grief is considered a time of sanctuary. Friends, family and neighbors circle the wagons and protect those in need of help. Some gifts are given, mostly food that someone has lovingly prepared. Many folks initial period of grief is so profound that focusing on cooking is rather difficult and there is much comfort found in home prepared food of almost any form.
To fit in with this need, a sympathy gift basket does not have to be completely commercial. For instance perhaps you have baked a loaf of bread as your contribution then your sympathy gift basket could include a card, perhaps some form of butter and a high quality jam or other spread. Of course the bread could have also been purchased as well.
The key is that you put the basket together yourself. What would make the sympathy gift basket even more appropriate is your knowledge of the grief stricken peoples tastes and likes. You may actually find that some quality food product shops may actually package and even send these for you should you prefer.
Commercial Baskets
There are of course many good quality sympathy gift baskets available on the internet. The better ones may also include fresh produce, appropriate verses and note cards. When purchasing one of these the consideration of the look of the sympathy gift basket is important. Many baskets can look pretty tacky and plastic when you actually see them, even though they actually look very nice on your computer screen.
Avoiding this is preferred but sometimes it cannot be avoided depending on the needs and times of the moment. Therefore, when sending a sympathy gift basket of an unknown quality, a nice card or note may be helpful in reducing the chances of adding to the stress of the grief stricken parties. These notes should be very personal and have a message that expresses your best wishes. Given this, a sympathy gift basket of any kind can indeed be an appropriate gift for the grief stricken.
