The sky over the South Pacific 2010 I have been sympathising lately with an acquaintance who is suffering a profound sense of grief. I actually met her at the funeral for her cousin the day after I returned from my recent trip to France. http://mannersandothermatters.blogspot.com/2011/08/vale-paul-lockyer.html She had also buried her eldest daughter 6 weeks earlier, a young woman who had not yet reached 30 years of age. I had been in Europe when her daughter died and I had not heard the news until my return. What to do? Her friends advised that she was coping as best she could; that she wasn’t receiving visitors but that mail was being collected from her mailbox. Her Facebook page was filled with condolences. But for me, the loss of a daughter required a personal, handwritten message of sympathy and support. Old fashioned perhaps, but still that personal touch seemed to resonate even with the younger friends, who surprisin...