Dear Eric: We are very good friends with a couple we have known for more than 50 years. Their anniversary is approaching, and I usually send a card.
The problem is that the husband has terminal cancer and is unlikely to live out the year (pancreatic cancer – no one I know who has had this has lived out the year). Many greeting cards for anniversaries have sentiments like, “Happy Anniversary,” followed by “…and for many more years,” or “The best is yet to come.”
I know to avoid those, and to try for something better. If I cannot find such a card, I’d like to acknowledge their anniversary but be compassionate. Perhaps I’d send a blank card with my own sentiment…