God Bless You?

I received a letter this morning from a cousin which was a response to an email message I wrote about the death of my father. At the end she included this remark:

I know you don't believe in Him, but I'm asking God to bless you anyway!

WTF! I getting tired of those guys not getting it. Don't they know that this is insulting to atheists? Can they be that oblivious?

I wrote back:

Short story: My best friend says "Gesundheit" to me after I sneeze. (Which mean "health!" in German, not "God bless you" which is "Gott segnen dich.") She's a practicing Christian. We never talk about religion because she's aware that she has no argument against atheism and isn't interested in mulling over it. I respect that. Anyway, she told me that she respects my lack of belief in God and would not insult me by saying "God bless you!" when I sneeze. It amazed me how thoughtful she was and my regard for her increased. I didn't ask, but I suspect she doesn't pray for me either.

Just a thought.

I hope I was able to let her know in a tactful way that she could, with little effort, be respectful of my lack of belief. I bet this goes over her head.