Gimme sympathy

The title of this blog post is one of my favorite Metric songs. It has very little to do with the content of this blog post, which is about my adventures in the Netherlands to attend the 17th Death, Dying, and Disposal Conference! Specifically, my project to build a better sympathy card with the attendees.

After all, what better place than an academic conference full of death and dying experts to challenge the tired clichés of the drugstore card aisle? In deepest sympathy. Forever in our hearts. There are no words.

Utterly ridiculous, that last one. Last time I checked, the whole point of sending a greeting card is to use your words.

Unsurprisingly, the DDD17 conference attendees did manage to find words—and drawings, and prompts, and stickers. And now you can download their cards FOR FREE on this very website.

After the conference, I spent a few days in Amsterdam with my cousins, where I managed to create digital versions of the cards while the boys were at school. It was a surprisingly soothing task. And I even managed to drag my cousin Erin to Museum Tot Zover while I was there! Glad she wanted to learn about global death rituals with me.

I had a great time. Given the current state of the U.S., I wish I were still there. But at least I got to come home to my dog.