Friendship and Death

As a friend and neighbor, it is up to you to follow your friends' illnesses and deaths. It is your responsibility to show the friendship in taking and showing an interest. This is quite probably the reason we were not notified -- we hadn't shown the appropriate amount of interest in his illness. Therefore, our friends figured we didn't really care. In reality, we did care, we just didn't take the time to show it. We didn't take the time or follow through on our responsibility in finding out how our friend was doing.

Here are a few ideas on how to find out the condition of a friend if you don't want to burden the family with another phone call. Check with another neighbor on a REGULAR basis. If the friend is a member of the same church, check with the pastor or bishop and find out what's going on. If the friend is a member of the same club/organization, appoint someone to check in with the family and see how he/she's doing. Check in with the appointee on a regular basis and see what's going on.

In short, don't rely on the family to tell you when someone has died. They have enough to worry about. Take some responsibility and learn what is happening all on your own. Show some interest, the family will appreciate it and you will feel better knowing that you've done all you can do.

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