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Get well cards

What to write in a get well card for family

For a parent, grandparent, sibling or child who is unwell. Lines that reassure as much as they sympathise.

  • Everything at home is handled. Your only job right now is to rest, and we mean that.

    Heartfelt

  • Thinking of you every single day. You have looked after all of us for years, so let us have a turn.

    Heartfelt

  • Get well soon. There is a seat at the table with your name on it and we are not starting without you.

    Heartfelt

  • Sending love from all of us. Take it one day at a time and do not worry about a thing.

    Heartfelt

  • Get well soon. Doctor's orders are apparently rest, so for once you are allowed to be spectacularly unhelpful.

    Funny

  • Feel better soon. The house has descended into chaos without you and we would like that on the record.

    Funny

  • Thinking of you. Love you lots.

    Short

  • Get well soon. Love from all of us.

    Short

  • Rest up. We are all thinking of you.

    Short

  • Sending love and hoping you feel better soon.

    Short

  • Wishing you a full and speedy recovery, with love from all the family.

    Formal

  • Thinking of you and wishing you well. Please rest and let us take care of everything else.

    Formal

Within a family, a get well card is usually doing a second job underneath the first one: reassuring the person that the household, the practicalities and everyone else are being handled. That worry is very often louder than the illness itself, particularly for the person who normally does the looking after.

Say it plainly. Everything is covered, nobody needs anything, their only job is to get better. For an older relative, write large and simply — the card will be propped on a bedside table and reread, sometimes by someone who is tired and not wearing their glasses.

Three things worth getting right

  • Tell them the practical things are handled. That is usually the real worry.
  • For grandparents, write big, write simply, and sign clearly with who you are.
  • Let a child's card be silly. That is precisely what it is for.

Common questions

What do you write in a get well card for a grandparent?

Keep it short, legible and concrete: who you are, that you are thinking of them, and one thing you are looking forward to doing together when they are better. Something to look forward to gives a card a job beyond sympathy.

What do you write to a child who is ill?

Be silly, and address them directly rather than their parents. Drawings, jokes and an outrageous promise for when they are better all work far better than sympathy, which mostly makes children feel more worried, not less.

One card, signed by everyone

You have the words. Card Event collects everyone else in one link, with photos, video and voice notes, and no app or account for the people signing.

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Writing to someone else?

All card wording guides — lines for a family member and everyone else