A Sympathy Gift: A Book Of Their Messages
A gift card is the kind way to give this. The person grieving makes a book from their own messages with the one who died, when they are ready, and the card does not expire.
Is a book of messages a suitable sympathy gift?
It can be, if the choice of when is left to them. Some people want the messages on paper soon, and some cannot look at them for a year. A gift card lets them decide.
Can I make the book for them?
Only from a conversation you are in. If you were in a family groupchat with the person who died, you can make that book, after asking the others in it. A private conversation between two other people is theirs to print.
Is there a deadline to use the gift card?
No, gift cards never expire. They can also choose the book now and send the conversation whenever it suits them. Nothing is lost by waiting, as long as the messages are still on a phone or in a backup.
What should they do first, before making any book?
Save the messages. A phone can remove old messages, and we cannot bring back what a phone has removed. The guide to saving messages from someone who has died explains how.
What if the messages are only on the phone of the person who died?
The same conversation is on the other person's phone, and that copy works as well. A backup on a computer can also be read. A phone that will not turn on and was never backed up to a computer cannot.
Can they leave some messages out?
Yes, they look through every page and can take out any message. The book can also cover only a stretch of dates. Nothing prints until they approve it.
Does anyone else read the messages?
No, software sets the book. No one on our team opens the messages unless they are sent to us for help. Nothing is rewritten.
Related Guides
- How To Save Text Messages From Someone Who Has DiedWhere the messages are kept, and how to save them from each app.
- How To Get Messages Off An Old Or Broken iPhoneWhat a computer backup can recover, and where it stops.
- A book of their messages, to keepThe book, in memory of someone.
- Gift CardsBy email or printed at home, the same day.
If You Want It As A Book
There is no right time for this one. The book prints the messages as they were sent, when the person who has them asks for it. The page on books made in memory says more. Or start with the free receipt.