Kathleen O’Brien writes for The Star-Ledger.
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Why Do Condolence Notes Never Get Easier to Write?
06-07-2013
Hands expressing symbolic sympathies while holding each other. Robert Kneschke/Shutterstock
As we go through life, most of us manage to acquire some small measure of expertise about daily living. In general, the more times we’ve had to undertake a task, the better we get at it.
Yet in this one area, we are all fumbling newbies, approaching every funeral as if it were our first. We think about what we could possibly say at the funeral home, or what we’ll write on the Facebook tribute page — and words fail us.
I’ve gradually learned to fight the urge to try to make those in pain feel better.