I have a home business, and I send out e-mail advertisements from time to time. These are completely generic, and don't contain the customer's name or anything like that.
I received an e-mail this morning from a customer's widow:
I want to unsubscribe from your e-mail list because this person is no longer alive--he has passed away and cannot receive your e-mails.
Please unsubscribe immediately.
Thank you,
His wife
Gregorian chant is for men AND women -- I'm not selling something obviously aimed at men (=her late husband).
I understand that losing one's life-long spouse is a heavy cross, but must one be so...touchy?
As she ends the e-mail with "His wife" I'm supposed to go, "Ouch! I'm sorry!" ...except A) I was never notified that he passed away, B) why can't she receive the e-mails in her husband's stead?
Or at least unsubscribe in a less dramatic fashion?She tells me that not only is he deceased, but that he is in an INTERNET-FREE part of the afterlife. She says I should unsubscribe the address "immediately" because tomorrow would be waiting too long -- nevermind the fact I only send out 2 e-mails a year (Christmas and Easter).
Apparently getting a generic Catholic-themed advertisement at her late husband's e-mail address is just too much -- I'm really twisting the knife.
Like I said -- it seems a bit "touchy" to me. If this were the first time, I probably wouldn't write this. But I know more than one widow IRL (in real life) and they are pretty emotional there as well.
I know one woman who lost her husband 5 years ago, and she acts like he passed away last week.
She is basically unable to function, and even unable to get herself into a stable living situation. She won't look into government assistance or move into cheaper/smaller living quarters, even though she has stopped making payments on her house. Moreover, she has chosen to "take care of" two adult children, so their food & shelter are at risk as well.
Another widow (much younger than the one in the previous paragraph) is jealous of her younger brother, who recently married a young trad Catholic lady. They just had their first child. I spoke with this couple, and they said that the widow in question "doesn't accept them" for some reason. I know the couple, and they have certainly done "everything right" -- chastity, marrying a fellow Trad Catholic, the husband working for a living and supporting his family, following the Commandments of God and the Church -- what's to criticize? Nothing -- just that this widow is "afraid" that any couple getting married will end up like she did, with 2 young boys and no father to help take care of them. And she's probably jealous of their new-found happiness and life together.
And all these widows are Catholic -- in fact, TRADITIONAL Catholic. My question -- shouldn't the Catholic Faith mitigate some of that raw grief and other emotions? Meanwhile Novus Ordo Catholics, protestants, pagans, etc. seem to have the strength to move on.
What gives?