Condolence card messages to show sympathy for anyone who needs it.

When you hear about a loss, how do you find the right words to react? There are times when we grieve together, and there are times when we see someone else hurting and desperately try to “say the right thing.”

In every case, we feel impotent against the turbulence of sorrow. We grapple for words of comfort. We try to validate that yes, it hurts, and that’s normal. We try to show empathy.

Whatever condolence message ideas you need, whether for a card or text or to keep in your back pocket, this list offers that and more.

Condolence messages for loss of a parent.

Parents leave a legacy, but that doesn’t mean we grieve less when we lose them. What do you say? How do you pick the right condolence messages for loss of a mother, or the best condolence messages for loss of a father?

Here are the messages that give you many different ways to approach every loss — and every loved one left behind.

Remember: switch “them” and “their” for the late parent’s name or “him,” “her,” “his,” hers,” respectively. These messages are fully personalizable for each situation.

• Your parent’s love echoes in you and in the choices you make. It’s reflected in the kindness you give and the strength you show. That will never be gone.

• Every time you share a story about them, every time you cook their favorite meal or use a phrase they always said, you breathe life into their memory. They live through you.

• Losing a parent is like losing the tree you’ve always leaned on. Then, you realize that their love is still rooted in you.

• Words aren’t enough. When it’s presence you need, I’m here. If it’s to listen, I’m here. If it’s to help with things that feel too heavy, I’m here.

Saying “I’m here for anything” sometimes puts a burden on the grieving person to ask for help. Offer specific ideas instead.

• Some losses are like earthquakes —you feel the ground beneath you shake and shift. I’m here to help you stay standing.

Condolence messages often recognize that grief hurts. Some people need this validation — it’s normal, and it’s OK to feel.

• Your parent’s love was a work of art woven into you. The strokes of their wisdom and warmth will bring comfort through memories, in time.

• I won’t say time heals, but I do believe that love carries weight. When the grief is too heavy to bear, may love lift you up.

• Grief is the tide that pulls you back to shore. It feels like absence, like isolation, but only because the ocean is vast. The memories that roll in are infinite, and you let them wash over you.

• If there’s a day when the weight is too much, I’ll sit with you to listen to the stories.

• Grief reminds us how much we love, even as it breaks our hearts. I hope, in time, the memories bring you more comfort than pain.

• Right now, the loss feels unbearable, like the world should have stopped when they left. But please know, the love has not left. Let it fill the room around you.

• Grief is love with nowhere to go. May you find ways to let it out — speak their name, share their stories, hold their memory in ways that bring you peace.

Metaphors can give someone in grief powerful visuals to anchor them.

• The love of a parent is like a lighthouse. It’s guiding and steadfast. Even after they pass, that light still guides you. Let it guide you through this storm.

• I won’t tell you to be strong because this is not something you should have to carry alone. Let me carry a little with you. Anything you need, I’m here.

• One day, the memories will make you smile more than they make you cry. Until then, let yourself feel everything you need to, and without apology.

The effect memories have on us does change over time, even though the memories stay the same.

• The world feels quieter without them, but their love still hums in the background of your life.

Condolence card messages of sympathy, help, and healing.

When we write condolence cards or letters, or even send a message online, we have more time to choose our words. We can reread our messages and put ourselves in the place of the recipient. This gives us the time to be more careful and considerate, and it opens the door to more introspective messages that risk sounding odd or pretentious out loud.

This allows us to share more heartfelt condolence messages, too. We can say things that are too hard to say in person. Peruse these condolence card messages and see which ones contain an important sentiment for you.

• Loss is disorienting. It feels like the map of your life suddenly changed. You don’t have to find your way alone. I will walk this road with you.

• There will be days when the grief feels fathomless. There will be others when their love feels close. Both are part of the journey.

The hope is that, with time, the days when they feel close outnumber the days when grief feels fathomless.

• If you need distraction, I can provide it. If you need space, I will respect it. If you need a hand to hold, mine is here.

• You don’t have to ask for help — I’ll be here, quietly making sure you know you aren’t alone.

• Their story doesn’t end here. It continues in you and in all the lives they touched.

Include a letter with a memory you treasure of the person who passed away.

• They filled this world with so much love, and that love is impermeable. It’s still here, pulsing through our hearts.

• There will be a day when you hear their name and smile instead of cry. I’ll be here for the sorrow now and the healing later.

• The pain of this moment is proof that this love will never end.

• Some souls are so bright that their light lingers long after they’re gone. May you always find their glow in unexpected places.

• A love as strong as theirs is never lost, it just takes on new forms. Look for it in the warmth of the sun or in the peace of a familiar song.

You can replace the “warmth of the sun” or the “peace of a familiar song” with something else that brings joy to the person you’re writing to.

• Your heart has been asked to hold something far too heavy. I am so sorry for your loss.

• This grief will never disappear, but it will become lighter. Until then, I’m here to help carry the weight.

• You don’t have to find the meaning in this loss right now. You don’t have to make sense of it. Just get through one day at a time.

• When someone we love becomes a memory, that memory becomes part of our heartbeat.

• Some people leave behind more than memories. They leave behind a warmth that lingers. May you always feel that warmth when you remember them.

• Grief is like an ocean, unpredictable and fathomless. We do learn to navigate it. We learn to stay afloat.

Condolence messages for cards often use visuals that can inspire beautiful card designs, like this simile.

Condolence messages to a friend or colleague.

Condolence messages for coworkers share something in common with sympathy for friends, though the level of intimacy can be poles apart. When these losses happen, we usually hear about it from the person after it already took place. Over lunch with a friend, or in an email from a colleague, the news comes out. We see their sadness and feel their sorrow, but we rarely know what to say. These condolence messages for friends and colleagues put our words to work.

• Even as you grieve, you’re proof of their love and their legacy.

• I can’t take away the loss, but I can promise that I’ll remember them with you.

Condolence messages for friends often refer to people we met at some point, and we can help honor their memory.

• I might not fully understand your loss, but I understand love. And I hope you feel it surrounding you now.

• I was so sorry to hear about your loss. Please know that I’m here for all the listening you need.

• Thinking of you and hoping you’re giving yourself the time and space to grieve in whatever ways feel right.

A lot of condolence messages for coworkers will be sent via email, even while the coworker is out of office on bereavement.

• There’s no right or wrong way to grieve. However you’re feeling right now is OK, and I’m here to support you.

• You don’t have to “hold it together” right now. You just have to be, and I’ll be here with you.

• If grief sneaks up in the quiet moments, call me. At 3:00 AM or 3:00 PM, I’ll answer.

• Grief doesn’t come with rules or follow a schedule. Whether the pain is worse today or hits you weeks from now, I’ll be here.

• It's never easy to lose someone so important. I hope you take time to cherish their memory and lean on those who care about you.

Even when you aren’t close to a colleague or acquaintance, you can point them to the people who are ready to support them.

• If you need space, an ear, or random ways to kill time, I’m here.

• I know grief can be overwhelming. If there’s anything I can take off your plate at work, I’m happy to help.

• If you ever need to step away for a break or just to breathe for a moment, I’m here to cover however I can.

• There’s no perfect thing to say at a time like this, but I hope you know you’re surrounded by people who care.

• Your strength is inspiring, but please remember that you don’t have to be strong all the time. I’m here to help.

• Your heart has just been through something terrible. Please be kind to yourself. I’ll always be here to remind you of that.

There are some losses that leave you lost for words, like when a friend or colleague loses a partner. This message is a place to start.

Pet condolence messages to show you really care.

Losing a pet is hard enough, and some people struggle even more because they feel judged for grieving so deeply.

Losing a pet, however, is truly terrible. Every time, it hurts. Every time, we struggle. When you see someone going through this, that’s when you can turn to these pet condolence messages to support, validate, and do what you can to help.

• A pet’s love is pure, unconditional, and irreplaceable. Your grief is real because your love was real.

Validate the grief someone feels after losing a pet.

• They were family, your shadow, your joy. I hope you find comfort knowing that the love you shared will never fade.

• If love alone could have kept them here, they would have stayed forever. Let that love beat on in their memory.

• You gave them a life full of love and care. In return, they gave you unconditional devotion. That bond doesn’t just end. It’s still there, it’s just changing form.

• What makes this loss so hard is that it doesn’t have edges. Instead, it spills into every part of life.

• No matter how small the owner, some souls leave the biggest imprints.

• They might have only been here for part of your life, but for them, you were their whole world. What a beautiful world it was.

Remind people how much they did for their pets, and it can be a comfort to know that at least their pet lived as well as anyone could dream.

• Their life was full of happiness because of you. Their love was unwavering because of you. Their story will always include you.

• The joy they brought was their greatest gift, just like the love you gave them was yours.

• Saying goodbye doesn’t make the love any less beautiful.

Pets live for far shorter periods than we would like. This message reminds us that saying goodbye is part of loving a pet.

• Losing a pet is losing a daily source of love and comfort. If you need company or a distraction, I’m here.

• Your pet knew nothing but love, adventure, and the comfort of your presence. That’s the best life imaginable.

• They filled your home with laughter and comfort. I hope those beautiful memories are a salve for the pain as your heart aches.

• They gave you a love so pure that even now, you’re wrapped in it.

• Their love will always find its way back to you in the quietest moments.

This encourages the person grieving to take in the quiet moments, too, because even the painful memories will help heal.

• The love between you and your pet was something truly special. Not even loss can erase it.

Condolence messages short enough to use absolutely anywhere.

Short condolence messages are best for cards, messages, and statements you make as you pass through a wake or funeral. In 74 characters or less, these condolence messages manage to touch aspects of grief that are relatable and introspective.

Condolence text messages can also be sent as reminders for those who need them, even weeks and months after a loss. Funeral condolence messages, too, are short so that they can be written on cards in flowers or with donations in someone’s honor.

Condolence messages short enough to be memorized can also bring sincere and impactful meaning at the perfect time, whenever it comes up. Peruse these condolence message ideas and see which ones speak to you.

• No goodbye can erase the love they left behind.

• A life so full of love leaves echoes forever.

This message is sweet and sorrowful for a large family whose loved one left behind many friends and relatives.

• Some lights never go out. Instead, they shine from another place.

• However you feel right now, it’s OK.

• Whenever you need to talk, cry, or hear that you’re loved, I’m a text away.

Use condolence text messages to encourage texts back, too.

• Their absence is felt, but so is the love they left behind.

• Grief is love that has lost its anchor. Let me help steady you.

• They were here, they were loved, and that love will never fade.

• The stars shine a little brighter tonight, carrying their memory.

• I see your pain and I stand beside you.

• I will remember them with you, always.

• Some goodbyes are too big for words, but I’m here for you.

A short message can remind someone of the support they have.

• In every quiet moment, they are here.

• When the heart breaks, it fills with memories.

This is a beautiful metaphor to use on a collage of photos or in a sympathy card.

• The wind still carries whispers of their laughter.

• Some souls leave a mark so deep that they never truly fade.

Tips for meaningful ways to deliver messages of sympathy.

Condolence messages aren’t just for cards, letters, or text messages. They can be made more meaningful in other mediums. They can be turned into sources of comfort or inspiration, too. Think, for example, about using condolence messages in:

• A small keepsake poster with a cherished photo.
• A graphic shared privately in a DM.
• A voice memo or video where you send a spoken message instead.
• Custom sympathy cards with a more personal touch.
• Announcements to share the details of a wake or funeral and to commemorate the person lost.

You can combine your condolence messages with other messages, too, if you don’t want to focus only on grief. Combine sympathy with love messages or “thinking of you” messages, because you never know where someone you care about will find comfort.

Exercise: Choose the most appropriate condolence messages.

If you see several messages that resonate but you aren’t sure which is the right message for someone you know, work your way through these points.

1. Assess the person’s emotional state. Do you see deep grief or numbness? Is this person struggling to focus? Choose a message that is comforting and steady.

2. Consider different communication styles. Is this person private or more expressive? Try direct support for more private people, and introspective messages for expressive people.

3. Always acknowledge the loss. Was it a parent, spouse, or pet that this person lost? Take these condolence messages and personalize them to honor the unique bond with the loved one lost.

Adobe Express can help.

Adobe Express has templates and customization tools to put your favorite condolence messages to work. If you want to use condolence messages in cards, letters, posters, banners, photo collages, flyers, or other creative projects, Adobe Express makes it as simple as picking a template and personalizing it, or making your own idea with easy-to-use tools. Whatever message you want to transmit, Adobe Express brings it to life, no experience required.

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