It’s probably not so smart to write about loss while you yourself are actively grieving — but dealing with death is clearly not something we can schedule to handle when we can fit it in. At any rate, writing about this fresh house of stationery that is devoted to navigating the toughest hurdles of life feels like the right way for me to honor our amazing Little Scout.
Grief Cards is the brainchild of Founder + CEO Madison Clark, and just launched last August — though it was technically born when she suddenly lost her brother Garrett in 2008, when he was 18 and she was 15. “One of my earliest grief lessons was that phrases like ‘stay strong for your parents’ and ‘he’s in a better place’ are the (terrible) things that people turn to when a high school kid, on the cusp of his entire life, is here one second and gone the next,” she wrote me. “In the years since, I’ve experienced multiple other sudden losses; each time, I hoped there would be better sympathy cards available, but that simply wasn’t ever the case.”
Enter Grief Cards. “Every grief experience is unique and nuanced, but the importance of ongoing, intentional connection is universal,” Madison added. “I’m also working to educate people who haven’t been through life-altering grief. Everyone should feel prepared to offer meaningful support to someone who is dealing with infertility, palliative care, a mental or physical health diagnosis, or any other all-too-common grief experience.”
You said it, Madison! Twenty years ago, sympathy cards were rigid and formal, featuring wooden messages and trite sentiments. People didn’t really know what to say, so they just signed their names. Empathy cards didn’t exist. Now, makers like Kwohtations, The Noble Paperie and now Grief Cards help initiate these difficult conversations and offer support — and they can ultimately shape how we talk about and process tragedy as a society, card by card by card.
Madison was kind enough to take my questions about her approach to grief and her young letterpress range.
SS: Tell me about the kind of cards you received after losing Garrett, and how that led to the creation of Grief Cards.
MC: [When] Garrett died, I quickly learned that the vast majority of sympathy cards are filled with toxic positivity, assumed spirituality, and empty platitudes. Even as a teenager, I knew that none of the well-intentioned cards we received reflected my lived experiences. As the years passed, the idea in my head changed from, “I hope someone else makes better sympathy cards,” to “Maybe I’ll make better sympathy cards.” After ripple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic forced me back to the U.S. and back to my hometown of Kansas City, Missouri, in Spring 2021, I decided to start taking steps to bring this 15-year-old idea to fruition in August 2023.
SS: Do you have a favorite card from your range and why?
MC: I actually don’t have a single favorite card because every one resonates with me in a wildly different way. Some of the cards include quotes from a loved one, others feature design elements that secretly honor my brother, and others now hold special meaning because of the way that customers have used them. I’m also a longtime lover of letterpress cards, so the unique letterpress details in each design contribute to this being an impossible choice!
SS: What is the best feedback you have heard?
MC: My favorite feedback so far came at a recent in-person vendor event. A woman made her way from one end of my table to the other, pausing to pick up and read every single design. I’d guess that she was in her thirties, and she was holding the hand of a toddler who was her spitting image. She had tears in her eyes when she came back to where I stood and said, “These are all of the things I wish someone had told me after my husband died.” So as hard as it is to work in the world of grief care while contending with my own grief, these are the moments that make everything worth it. Grieving people deserve so much better.
SS: Where would you like your card brand to be in five years?
MC: In five years, I want Grief Cards to be a go-to resource for people who are sending sympathy cards, whether due to bereavement, mental health challenges, a physical health diagnosis, divorce, job loss, palliative care, or any of life’s other grief-laden experiences. Each day, I’m working simultaneously on the wholesale, direct to consumer, and bulk fronts of my business, so my goal setting is much less about hitting a certain number or achieving a certain award. Instead, my focus is on educating people who haven’t experienced life-altering grief so that their good intentions can be better relayed to the grieving people in their communities. This company is wholly focused on the grieving person on the receiving end of a sympathy card, and working to make their day even infinitesimally brighter.
What a wonderful , mighty mission Madison has! You can shop Grief Cards here — and for my friends in the trade, Grief Cards is on Faire too. There’s no better way to support a new maker in our midst — or someone really needing a dose of comfort and friendship.
