Things You Shouldn’t Say to Grieving Families at Funeral Homes

Are you trying to figure out the right thing to say when you come face-to-face with a grieving family at one of the funeral homes in North Port, FL? You really can’t go wrong with a simple “I’m so sorry.” It’s quick and to the point, and it’ll provide a grieving family with some small sense of comfort and relief. But unfortunately, not everyone decides to go in this direction when communicating with grieving families. They’ll sometimes say the worst possible things in the moment and do more harm than good. Here are several things that you shouldn’t ever say to grieving families at funeral homes.

“At least your loved one is in a better place now.”

If a grieving family is very religious, they might appreciate you saying this to them. But you’re going to be taking a risk since, if they’re not religious at all, this isn’t really going to help them in the slightest. It’s why you should stay away from suggesting that a person is “in a better place” now that they have died. It’s not going to help a grieving family as much as you might think while they’re mourning a loved one’s loss in a North Port, FL funeral home.

“It’s good that your loved one was able to live a long life, right?”

If the person who died was on the older side at the time of their death, you might be tempted to remind their family that they were able to live a long life. But the truth is that this isn’t going to help matters much when a family is grieving. They’re still going to wish that their loved one had been able to live just a little longer. Your words are only going to serve as a reminder that this was not possible.

“I know exactly how you feel.”

If you experienced the death of a loved one recently, you might try to use this to your advantage when you’re standing in front of a grieving family. You might attempt to relate to them by telling them that you know exactly how they feel. But this will, to some degree, minimize their own feelings while putting your feelings under a microscope. The reality is that, even if you did just go through a death in your family, you still don’t 100 percent know how a grieving family feels. They might be trying to process certain emotions that you didn’t have to go through, which will make your words for them sound hollow.

“Everything happens for a reason.”

If you’re going to throw out a cliche like this while speaking with a grieving family, you should try to think twice before you do it. They might politely just nod and say thank you for your kind words, but they might also be hurting even more inside because of how you chose to express your sympathies. You should try to come up with something better than a cliche that doesn’t really mean anything for a grieving family. Otherwise, your words might not move them much at all.

At Gendron Funeral & Cremation Services Inc., we know how difficult it can be for grieving families to plan North Port, FL funeral services for their loved ones. It’s why we work so hard to help them through it. Reach out to us if you’re currently in need of a funeral home to help your family make funeral arrangements for a loved one.