Book contents
2 - UNEXPECTED CRISIS
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 July 2009
Summary
“Did you love your mother?” …
“The easy answer is yes. But it's too easy just to say that when you're talking about your mother. It's so much more than love — it's, it's everything, isn't it?” … “When someone asks you where you come from, the answer is your mother.” … “When your mother's gone, you've lost your past. It's so much more than love. Even when there's no love, it's so much more than anything else in your life. I did love my mother, but I didn't know how much until she was gone.”
ANNA QUINDLEN, ONE TRUE THINGIt hurt so bad and I had nobody to talk to. People said, “Well, your folks died. Gee, I'm really sorry … that's tough,” and patted me on the back. Well, they had no idea.
MICHAEL, AGE FORTY-ONEThe death of a parent is the most common cause of bereavement faced by adults in Western society. Each year, about 5 percent of the U.S. population is faced with this experience. Only one in ten adults has lost a parent by age twenty-five, but by age fifty-four, 50 percent of adults have lost both parents, and by age sixty-two, 75 percent have lost both parents. On average, about thirteen years separates the death of one parent from the other.
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- Death of a ParentTransition to a New Adult Identity, pp. 15 - 48Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2003