Bereavement brings huge changes in a person’s life. It shapes the course of his or her existence so that all subsequent experiences are felt differently. After bereavement, nothing remains the same.
To have to give up the physical presence of a loved one shakes up how we see, react and act. We again question the meaning of life. Sadness and fear of abandonment sometimes rear their heads. Our relationships with others are no longer the same. To experience mourning is to lose part of one’s past, and give up the future we had imagined.
During mourning, a person experiences a gamut of disruptions that vary in duration and intensity, but such disruptions are common and normal. The mourning process demands time and energy. The often used expression “to be in mourning” reminds the bereaved that she must make a personal effort to go on living and to enjoy life even in the absence of her beloved.