When someone experiences a loss, a trauma, or a personal trial, we are often moved to do something to show them we care. When the old standby, “Let me know if you need anything!” doesn’t seem to suffice, give your grieving loved one something that better communicates your love and support.
Gifts That Are Not Flowers
If flowers don’t feel like the right choice, what else is appropriate to send when someone has died? Here are a few ideas that are technically not flowers.
- Edible Arrangements are bouquets of food like fruit or chocolate (or chocolate-covered fruit!) that keep the traditional message that flowers send, but are unique and memorable as a sympathy gift. You could make your own edible arrangement to suit the personality of the receiver—a bouquet of cheeseburgers, a candy bouquet, a bouquet of beef jerky, etc.
- Your loved one is probably getting an incredible amount of flowers sent to them during this time. Consider buying them a flower press like this one so they can preserve some of the blooms that people have sent.
- Outdoor decorations may be another alternative to traditional flower bouquets. Give your loved one a bush or shrub for their yard, or consider a memorial stepping stone or wind chimes.
Gifts If You Live Far Away
If you live in a different state or country from your loved one going through a loss, you can still be a presence for good during their grief with one of these long-distance gifts.
- Deliver food to their house by ordering online and using a service like Door Dash to drop it by. Most delivery services will let you attach a note to the meal (or the cookies or the ice cream) that you send. You could even get the same meal where you live and set up a video call to eat it together—it’ll feel as close to being there as you can get!
- One of our go-to gift ideas is a care package because they are incredibly customizable and personal. You can put one together yourself (consider utilizing a theme or looking for ideas on Pinterest), or pay for a pre-made care package to be sent through a company like Here for You or Happy Box.
Gifts That Serve As Memorials
If you want to get something that will remind your loved one of the person they’ve recently lost, think of some long-lasting gift ideas like these.
- There are so many great jewelry options out there that can serve as beautiful memorials. Give a name-stamped ring from Etsy or a birthstone necklace from Borcik Jewelry.
- For a personable and homemade feel, perhaps a mix tape of songs that remind you of the deceased could be a strong memorial gift. You could also put together top songs from the year your loved one was born or the year they got married using a site like Billboard, which has compiled lists of popular songs since 1940!
