This Week I Wanted to Give Up This Work

This week, I wanted to stop doing this work. 

Not because I don't believe in Grief Gifts.

Quite the opposite.

I care about this little business so much, and about what it means, more than I probably know how to explain.

Every order that comes in, is more than an order to me. There is a person on the other end of it. So I take a lot of care with every single gift.

Sometimes perhaps too much.

An order comes in and, if I can, I get straight up and pack it.

It doesn't matter if it's late at night. Or the weekend. Or I'm in the middle of something else. I will often stop what I'm doing because I want that gift to be on its way as quickly as possible.

I wrap each one carefully.

I check everything.

I write the cards by hand.

I think about the person receiving it.

And I do all of it with the best intentions and a genuinely kind heart.

Then came Thursday.

A customer contacted me about an order she had placed for someone in Queensland.

I had lovingly wrapped her gift on Sunday and taken it to Australia Post first thing Monday morning.

By Thursday, it still hadn't arrived.

I completely understand wanting to know where a gift is. Especially when you're waiting for something important to reach someone you care about.

But there wasn't a "Hi Amanda, I'm just checking on my order".

There wasn't a question about what had happened.

Instead, I was called a scammer and subjected to some incredibly hurtful words.

And I have to be honest.

It made me feel physically sick.

Not because I had done something wrong, but because behind this little business is a real person.

Me.

A person who had spent her Sunday carefully putting together someone's gift and had taken it to the post office the very next morning.

A person who had done everything she possibly could to get that gift where it needed to go.

And suddenly, all of that care felt invisible.

For a moment, I wanted to walk away.

I thought, Why am I doing this?

Why am I putting so much of myself into something that can leave me feeling like this?

And perhaps that's the part people don't always see when they buy from a small business.

They see the website.

They see the products.

They click buy.

But they don't see the person behind the screen.

They don't see the late nights.

The weekend packing.

The carefully handwritten card.

The parcels sitting beside my front door waiting to go to the post office.

They don't see me checking tracking numbers because I genuinely want to know that someone's gift has arrived safely.

They don't see how much heart goes into something as seemingly simple as putting a gift into a box.

But then I remembered why I started.

I started Grief Gifts because I know how hard grief can be.

I know what it feels like to desperately want to do something for someone you love and not know what to say or what to give.

I wanted to create a place where people could find something thoughtful without having to spend hours searching.

A place where a gift could arrive beautifully wrapped, with a handwritten message, and quietly say:

I'm thinking of you.

I'm here.

You don't have to go through this alone.

That hasn't changed.

One person's cruelty doesn't erase the hundreds of beautiful reasons this business exists.

And thankfully, this week also brought kindness.

There were lovely messages.

Beautiful orders.

Customers who took the time to say thank you.

And reminders of why I keep doing this.

So I'm still here.

I'm still wrapping gifts with care.

I'm still writing your cards by hand.

I'm still checking the tracking.

I'm still getting up and packing orders when they come in, even when it's late and even when it's the weekend.

Because that's who I am.

I care deeply about what I do.

And I want every gift that leaves Grief Gifts to carry a little piece of that care with it.

I also think this week reminded me of something important.

Kindness matters.

Especially when you're dealing with another human being.

You never really know what's happening on the other side of an email, a phone call or a message.

So if your parcel is delayed, if something hasn't gone according to plan, or if you're simply worried about your order, please reach out.

I promise there is a real person here.

And I will always do my very best to help.

With a kind heart,

Amanda
Grief Gifts 💜