Hi, ladies - I'm a little at a loss right now and I've gotten some great wedding-related advice on here recently, so I thought I'd turn to you with a sensitive NWR subject.
I'm a theatre instructor who works with kids ages K-12. Late last night, I got an email from a woman asking me to remove her grown daughter (a mother of two of my former students) from our theatre company's email mailing list, as the daughter and her husband had passed away in December, and receiving the newsletters was upsetting. I had absolutely no idea, and the information really shook me - the last time I had heard from the family was last spring, when the mother had said the kids were taking a break from theatre to focus on school and grades; they were 7 and 9 at the time.
I immediately wrote back saying how sorry I was, that I had no idea, and that I would of course remove the family from our mailing list. I said that the children were in my thoughts and prayers, and left it at that.
Turns out, the parents passed in a very traumatic way right around Christmas. I could not stop thinking about it all night, and had a lot of trouble sleeping. While I was tossing and turning, I remembered that I had a photograph of the little girl after her first show with us, holding a bouquet of roses and smiling with her parents. The photo is really lovely, and I'd like to make sure she has it.
The issue is, I don't want to just send it off in an email and have the family open it unawares; I'm sure if receiving theatre newsletters is upsetting, they don't want a photograph like that just popping up. I thought about emailing the grandmother and asking if she'd like the photo, but I also don't want her to think I'm pestering her, or trying to keep the conversation going. She's clearly trying to cut ties, and I want to respect that.
Would you send the photo? Ask if they'd like it? (I'd assume just by saying, "I remembered that I have a nice photo of your granddaughter and her parents. Would you like me to pass it along to you for her to have when she's ready?") Assume they have a copy and just let it go?
Forgive me if I'm over-thinking, this just has me a rattled and I'd appreciate the guidance. Thanks for your time.