Sympathy cards should not be confused, as some Internet searches are prone to be, with “memory cards.” Memory cards are small electronic circuit boards that are installed in computers to increase the machine’s internal “memory.” They are, accordingly, an entirely different product with no direct relation to the important function that sympathy cards play in our world.
Sympathy cards, meanwhile, are special keepsakes that help us to remember lost loved ones for the ages.
Sympathy cards have long been a part of the grieving process that any family goes through at the lost of a loved one. For as long as the United States Mail has been a reliable service, people have commonly sent memorial cards, also known as “memorial” cards to friends who have lost an immediate family member. Originally these sympathy “cards” were usually hand-written on formal stationary, but, as professional writers began creating magical words that expressed sympathy much more eloquently than an amateur can, an entire sympathy card industry rose throughout the 20th century. Today, a consumer wanting to send some comforting words to a grieving friend or family member can find plenty of beautiful memorial cards to choose from at his or her corner store. (The selection has, ironically, risen to the point in which choosing the best card to send can sometimes be as difficult as simply writing an original memorial card.)
But, that said, sympathy cards, today, go beyond the cards that are also known as memorial cards: sympathy cards have many other uses and functions.
Sympathy cards, for example, are very commonly used to acknowledge charitable contributions made on behalf of a loved one. The St. Jude’s Children’s Foundation, for examples, as well as the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association and American Cancer Society, all are common recipients of memorial contributions from people who donate in the name of a cherished loved one. (In fact, it’s common for newspaper obituaries to specifically request that such donations be made in place of gifts of flowers and other memorial gestures.) These organizations typically use sympathy cards to acknowledge the gifts. The formally designed sympathy cards are usually presented to family members who then display them proudly as a permanent memorial to their loved one’s spirit.
Sympathy cards of this type have been in use for many years, but a recent use of sympathy cards came about after the disasters that struck America on September 11, 2001. Those tragedies spawned many sympathy cards of a relatively new type. In the weeks and months (and even years) following the fateful day, many individuals and groups began distributing small, wallet sized, sympathy cards aimed at assuring people never forget those who died on that day. Some of the memorial cards have pictures of individuals who died, others pay tribute to entire groups -- such as the New York Fire Department -- who lost friends and loved-ones on September 11. In many cases the cards were distributed in exchange for small donations to groups working to clean-up and memorialize the tragedy. But, many of the memorial cards were simply filled with sad-but-inspiring messages that the authors simply wished to share with as many as possible. In one example, a man in Texas found the writings of Mohandas K. Gandhi very relevant and printed and distributed thousands of “Gandhi Cards” aimed at memorializing both Gandhi and the victims of the September 11 attacks.
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