Gifts of Condolence

by

Here's my story about some special gifts of condolence! My mother passed away in 2005 and a year after that my father passed away. I was already dealing with all of the emotional stress and trauma that this caused. I was only 21 years old when my mom passed away. I had been dealing with their deaths the best way I knew how to. Throughout those hard times, many people gave me what are known as condolence gifts. Fruit baskets, necklaces that my mom would have liked, picture frames to put special pictures in, etc. While those condolence gifts helped me deal at the time, a few years later my world was shaken once again. My brother was in a horrible motorcycle accident and was killed instantly. None of the people in my life knew what to do. They all seemed helpless. Three of my loved ones had died within 5 years of each other. They all felt like condolence gifts were not going to help this time. A month after my brother died, my friends threw me a surprise birthday party. All of them had chipped in to buy me a gift card to a local tattoo shop. With this gift card I gave myself a condolence gift. I got a tattoo in remembrance of my parents and brother. I see this tattoo every day of my life and I am constantly reminded that I was loved by them and all of the good memories that we shared. This has been the best condolence gift so far because it is a permanent one.