Retelling the narrative of the death

Abstract

From a meaning reconstruction perspective, integrating the reality of a loved one’s loss commonly involves two forms of narrative processing, centered on the event story of the death , on the one hand, and the back story of the relationship with the loved one, on the other (Neimeyer & Sands, 2011). In the natural accommodation of loss, mourners commonly tack back and forth between these two stories, sharing them with receptive others in an effort to weave the death narrative into the larger story of their lives as a sad, but necessary transition, while drawing on and fi nding sustenance in the back story of their loved one’s life, which continues to provide a sense of attachment security as they reconstruct, rather than relinquish, their continuing bond. In most cases as this process proceeds, the raw grief of the loss becomes less preoccupying, and the survivor gradually reestablishes a sense of meaning and coherence in a changed life.