The value of the reactions is questionable at best.
A friend’s death gets the same sad face reaction as when a friend posts about not fitting into jeans.
I can just as easily use the “heart” emoji when someone talks about a sandwich I love as when someone waxes poetic about the goodness of a dead friend.
Yes, I love the sandwich, but it just doesn’t seem right that the heart is the same way I tell the husband of a dead friend that I am sending him love.
Different kind of “love,” but the emoji is the same.
Sure, you can add a personal sentiment as I often do that includes something like “I am sorry for your loss,” “I am praying for you and your family,” “If you should ever need anything, let me know,” or “You are in my thoughts and prayers.”
Even with personalized messages — a sentence or two about that friend’s compassion, love for others, humor, bravery, generosity, etc. — it just seems woefully lacking in the age of social media. It is cloudy and far from enough.
Words were never enough to express sorrow over death, but they somehow seem even less.
The recent passing of two colleagues and friends, Mike Goheen and Gail Latham, brought this to the front of my mind.
A crying cartoon face and “sorry about your loss” doesn’t quite cut it when it comes to people who touched your heart and helped make the world awesome, fun and bright.
I can go on and on about Gail and Mike, as I am sure you can go on and on about the loved ones you have lost recently and in the past.
Smart, funny, kind, talented people…
They are the sort there are never enough words to describe.
Their deaths are worth more than just a heart or a sad teardrop Facebook reaction.
The words “sorry for your loss” don’t touch on how sorry you feel that the world has lost them.
It doesn’t matter if the death came sudden, as was the case with Mike, or after much pain, as was the case with Gail.
The “I am sorrys” and sad and love emojis are mixed in with a sea of things that make people respond with the like, love, laugh, wow, sad or angry reaction.
Nope.
Words are not enough, and neither are reactions.
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