We always say that it’s better to say the wrong thing than to say nothing at all. And... that’s true, but there are at least a few things you should try not to say to people in grief.
Everyone wants to know what to do to support a person who is grieving. After the funeral is over, after we’ve dropped off a hot dish (that’s Midwest for "casserole") and sent a card... what do we do?
The grief of death is obvious. We can recognize that one when we see it or experience it. It’s harder for all of us to recognize grief in its other forms — when the subject of our sorrow isn’t the death of a person but the loss of something else.
When we found out our founder Nora McInerny's TED talk on grief was the #4 TED Talk of 2019, we were super proud but not at all surprised. Because grief is the universal experience that still puzzles all of us.