It can be a helpless feeling when someone you love is sick but lives very far away. Whether it be a short-term illness, a chronic illness, a heartbreak, or something else, watching your parents, grown children, siblings, or friends struggle with life’s afflictions can leave you feeling powerless.
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Luckily, there are many ways to help someone feel better even if you live states or oceans apart. Any of the following ideas is sure to lift even the gloomiest spirit and bring a smile to your loved one’s face.
Send Food
The way to most people’s heart is through their stomachs, and there’s something especially comforting about getting food from someone when you’re sick. Even though nothing compares to Mom’s homemade chicken noodle soup, there are some close runners-up that can be sent through the mail.
- Homemade soup: Spoonful of Comfort is the next best thing to your mom’s home cooking. Their deliveries comes with handcrafted soup in a Mason jar, rolls, spoons, and an adorable keepsake ladle.
- Ready-made meals: Websites like Omaha Steaks can also send complete no-prep meals in the mail that just need to be heated up. If your loved one likes and is able to cook for herself, you can always send a few gourmet meals from a subscription meal box like Blue Apron or Hello Fresh.
- Get well soon cookies: Few things make you feel better than baked goods when you’re feeling under the weather. At Chocolate Shipped Cookies, we make the perfect get well cookie that can be delivered to homes or hospitals.
- Local food options: You can always send food or groceries through a local drop-off service like Door Dash or Uber eats. Another option is to purchase gift cards to local restaurants online and then email the digital gift card straight to their inbox.
Send Comfort
Sometimes, due to dietary restrictions or personal preferences, your loved one would do better with non-food comfort items. Even though food fills the belly, thoughtfulness fills the soul, and sending get well packages through the mail or over the internet can be as filling as a bowl of warm soup. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Customized music: Gone are the days of the mixed tape, but now you can send a customized playlist on Spotify full of songs to cheer your loved one. Pack it with shared favorites, silly songs, and tracks to pump her up and take her mind off of her illness. If technology isn’t her thing, you can always purchase the music and burn it onto a CD to send through the mail.
- Funny videos and memes: YouTube is a fantastic resource for helping your friend feel better. Every day there are new compilation videos that can help brighten her spirits. You can also send hilarious memes to her phone throughout the day as periodic pick-me-ups. Laugher is, after all, the best medicine.
- Recommend a book: Being stuck in bed is a good reason to pick up a book, and recommendations go a long way. Most libraries have digital book check-out capabilities through Overdrive or Libby, so your friend won’t even need to leave the house (or hospital) to start reading one of your favorites. You can also gift an audiobook through Audible if it’s easier for your loved one to listen than read. For more long term illnesses, you might consider sending a subscription from the Book of the Month or OwlCrate service. Each month, these companies will send curated bestsellers and goodies straight to your friend’s doorstep!
- Flower delivery: You can rarely go wrong with flowers, and flower delivery services are a dime a dozen these days.
- Send something homemade: Few things can brighten your loved one’s day like homemade, meaningful gifts. Photos and mementos are always cherished, and small warm gifts like afghans or scarves can feel like a hug from you even if you can’t physically be there.
Keep in Touch
Sometimes you don’t have the time or funds to send something big in the mail, but you can always keep in touch in other ways.
- Send a letter: It’s easy enough to send a get-well letter in the mail, and to facilitate a response, you can even include a self-addressed, stamped envelope with some stationary. It gives you both something to look forward to in the mail.
- Utilize technology: Checking in has never been easier and cheaper. You now have plenty of options (Zoom, Facebook Messenger, Skype, Facetime, Google Duo, etc.) to touch base and see each other’s faces regularly.
- Do a craft: This idea can be a great bonding experience. First, you find an easy craft with materials that you both have lying around the house (send a list of items before you schedule the craft). Then set up your video conference and complete the steps to the craft together. It’s not quite as good as being at the same table, but it’s the next best thing.
- Watch sports: For sports lovers, watching a game is a great way to bond over long distances when you can’t go to the game together. Just turn your speakerphones on when you turn on the game, and it’s almost as good as being in the same room.
- Online games: Thanks to the pandemic, online games are seemingly everywhere these days. Jackbox Games, online Scattegories, Among Us, and online Phase 10 are just a few ways to connect with your sick loved ones when miles separate you.
Probably the most important thing you can do to help someone get well when you’re far apart is to be available. For long term illnesses, you may need to schedule a time to chat based on when they feel their best, but even for short term, a quick text in the morning or afternoon can make a world of difference.