Emily McDowell, an artist whose fun and witty postcards have been featured before by Bored Panda, has a new series of postcards that are just as funny but far more meaningful as well. McDowell, a cancer survivor, created the Empathy Cards as meaningful and honest gifts for people suffering from serious illnesses.

“The most difficult part of my illness wasn’t losing my hair, or being erroneously called ‘sir’ by Starbucks baristas, or sickness from chemo,” McDowell writes on her blog. “It was the loneliness and isolation I felt when many of my close friends and family members disappeared because they didn’t know what to say, or said the absolute wrong thing without realizing it.” Hopefully, these warm, funny and beautiful cards will help you avoid that same mistake!

More info: emilymcdowell.com | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter (h/t: modernmet)

“I created these empathy cards for serious illness because we need some better, more authentic ways to communicate about sickness and suffering”

“As a cancer survivor, I have a very personal stake in this game. I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin’s lymphoma at age 24”

“A ‘f**k cancer’ card is a nice sentiment, but when I had cancer, it never really made me feel better”

“Sympathy cards can make people feel like you think they’re already dead”

“I never personally connected with jokes about being bald or getting a free boob job, which is what most ‘cancer cards’ focus on”

“As a result of my own experiences, I’ve wanted to create this collection for a long time”

“After 9 months of chemo, I went into remission and have been incredibly fortunate to be cancer-free since”

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