What to Say and Not Say When Your Co-worker's Pet Dies

It can be difficult to know what to say when a co-worker's pet dies or how much sympathy to express. Here are some tips:

• Respect her or his loss, it may seem silly to you to get upset over the death of a pet, especially if you have none of your own. Speaking as a pet owner and general animal lover, the loss is very real. For people like us, a pet is a member of the family, sometimes our favorite family member.

• Don't ever suggest that the bereaved just "get over it" or that he or she go and get a new cat or dog as a replacement. The bereaved may get another pet eventually, but either way he or she needs time to grieve.

• If you feel comfortable doing so, buy a card for the owner's loss. Here's an example of something you can write:
• "I'm so sorry for the recent loss of your pet. It's never easy losing a part of your family. My thoughts are with you."

• Maybe let him or her know you're available to talk about their loss and offer to take him or her out for a cup of coffee, or surprise them with a small treat left at their desk with a small note.

Related Admin Posts:

• Sympathy Messages for the Death of a Coworker's Loved Ones
• What to Write in a Coworkers Retirement Card
• What to Say (and Not Say) to a Fired Coworker
• What to Write in a Coworkers Get Well Card

What to Say (and Not Say) to a Fired Coworker

When a coworker you consider a friend is fired, it can be very tricky knowing the right thing to say to him or her. Here are a few suggestions:

• As when trying to comfort someone in most difficult situations, it's best to empathize with the person, expressing how sorry you are and how difficult the situation is for the fired coworker.  Acknowledge his or her feelings and the situation. See if they'd like to go out and have a chat over coffee or lunch.

• Don't try to make the person feel better by suggesting how the situation "isn't that bad". The person may have a supportive spouse he or she can count on or other job opportunities on the horizon, but in the moment, it sucks to be the person that just got canned.

• If you aren't that close with the fired coworker (or even if you are), now is the time to determine how supportive you want to be and whether or not you want to have any sort of non-work related relationship with this person. It's great if you chose to offer support and friendship in this person's time of need, but only do it if you mean it. Don’t  be making promises of support you can’t keep, such as if you feel uncomfortable about writing a letter of recommendation for future jobs.

• You may need to give the fired coworker a little bit of space before offering empathy or help. If he or she just got the news, give the person a little bit of time to process this significant life change before you swoop in to offer condolences, that is unless he or she comes to you directly looking for support.

• If you aren't at all close with the fired coworker, it might just be best to leave him or her alone. If it seems like you never cared about your colleague before, it may seem insincere to start now. Also, lots of people need space while going through such a potentially difficult time.

Related Admin Posts:

• Sympathy Messages for the Death of a Coworker's Loved Ones
• What to Write in a Coworkers Retirement Card
• What to Write in a Coworkers Birthday Card
• What to Write in a Coworkers Get Well Card

(Photo credit: david_shankbone / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0))

Grief/Mourning Quotes for a Coworker's Sympathy Card

While using our own words to express our sympathies are often meaningful because they come right from the heart, sometimes it is useful to use the words of someone else to express a certain feeling on the subject of loss.  Here are a few that I'm particularly fond of - 

• “Memory nourishes the heart, and grief abates.” - Marcel Proust

• "The dark today leads into light tomorrow; There is no endless joy, and yet no endless sorrow." - Ella Wheeler Wilcox

• “Earth hath no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal.” -Thomas Moore

• “I will not say, do not weep, for not all tears are an evil.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

• “To weep is to make less the depth of grief.” - William Shakespeare

• “Though lovers be lost, love shall not; And death shall have no dominion.” - Dylan Thomas

• “We all live with our losses. We don't want to, but we can” - Carrie Jones

• “We carry the dead with us only until we die too, and then it is we who are borne along for a little while, and then our bearers in their turn drop, and so on into the unimaginable generations.” - John Banville

• “The darker the night, the brighter the stars, the deeper the grief, the closer is God!” - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

• “Life Lesson 3: You can't rush grief. It has its own timetable. All you can do is make sure there are lots of soft places around - beds, pillows, arms, laps.” - Patti Davis

Need a few more ideas to get your feelings across? Check out 

Sympathy Messages for the Death of a Coworker's Loved Ones

Related Posts:

• What to Write in a Coworkers Get Well Card
• What to Write in a Coworkers Birthday Card
• What to Write in a Going Away/Farewell Card
• Use Chocolate and Classical Conditioning to Build Goodwill with Coworkers
• Clever Birthday Card Quotes

What to Write in a Coworkers Get Well Card

It can be difficult coming up with the right words to say when someone you know or work with is sick or injured. Here are a few example messages of what you might write in a card for your coworker or boss:

• Wishing you a speedy recovery and looking forward to seeing your smiling face back at work/in the office once you've recovered!
• I'm so sorry to hear you've been ill, you will be in my thoughts/prayers.
• Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help out while you recover from your illness/surgery.
• I'm sending positive thoughts/vibes your way for a quick recovery.
• I'm wishing you the very best during your recovery and that this time helps you to recuperate and re-energize.
• The office isn't nearly as fun or productive without you, please feel better soon and come back to us!
• Hoping for your restful and complete recovery, let's catch up over coffee/lunch when you are back and feeling up to it.
• I hope you being well cared for and comfortable and hoping you feel 100% better soon!

Messaging Tips:

• Know a little bit about the persons illness before you write in the card. This way you don't accidentally write something that makes you look like a jackass. If you are unsure, look at what some other folks have already written in the card for clues.  For example, if a coworker is diagnosed with a degenerative/terminal disease, saying "get well soon" will sound pretty insensitive.
• Keep the personality of the sick person in mind when writing your message. If the person is religious, let the other party know they are in your prayers. If the person is spiritual, tell them you are sending good vibes their way. If neither, a simple "you are in my thoughts" is appropriate.
• If you do offer to provide any sort of help to the sick/injured person, make it a concrete offer, such as a willingness to pick up their kids after school or to bring over a home-cooked meal.  If the offer is ambiguous, he or she will probably be too shy to make a request.

Need a few more ideas to get your feelings across? Check out Quotes for a Get Well Card.

Related Admin Posts:

• What to Say (and Not Say) When a Co-worker's Pet Dies
• What to Say (and Not Say) to a Fired Coworker
• What to Write in a Coworkers Birthday Card
• Sympathy Messages for the Death of a Coworker's Loved Ones
• What to Write in a Coworkers Retirement Card
• What to Write in a Coworker's Baby Shower Card

Sympathy Messages for the Death of a Coworkers Loved Ones

Knowing exactly what to write in a sympathy card for a coworker or boss can be tricky, especially if you don't know the person all that well and/or you work in a large office with lots of people, where it can be challenging to develop relationships with your coworkers. 

Or perhaps you don't like to socialize with coworkers but don't want to look like a jerk so you sign whatever cards come across your desk, we all do what we have to do to maintain a certain professional image in the workplace.

So, I've provided y'all with a couple generic, ready-made sympathy messages you can take advantage of and tinker with/edit as needed to help you find the right words without sounding insincere or like you're trying way too hard:

• My deepest sympathies during your time of loss, my thoughts/prayers are with you and your family during this difficult time.
• I am so sorry for you loss, please let me know if there is anything I can do to help during this difficult period.
• I am so sorry to hear about the passing of (name/relationship to coworker).
• My heart goes out to you in your time of grieving.
• Please accept my warmest condolences, I'm sending thoughts of peace and courage your way.

If you ever had the opportunity to meet the deceased, it can be a nice idea to include a short, pleasant memory that you have of him or her to share, for example:

• I would frequently run into your mother at the grocery store, she always had a smile and kind words to share, she will be deeply missed.

Need a few more to get your feelings across? Check out Grief/Mourning Quotes for Sympathy Cards

Related Admin Posts:

• What to Say (and Not Say) When a Co-worker's Pet Dies
• What to Say (and Not Say) to a Fired Coworker
• What to Write in a Coworkers Get Well Card
• What to Write in a Coworkers Birthday Card
• What to Write in a Going Away Card
• Use Chocolate and Classical Conditioning to Establish Goodwill with Coworkers