Elephants Never Forget and Neither Do Grieving Parents

An excellent book that explores life after the loss of an adult child is Our Walk With Elephants by Peggy Boon, Ph.D. and Bonnie Headington, Ph.D.  These authors have the distinction of not only being mental health professionals but also bereaved mothers.  One of their most salient points is the fact that bereaved parents continue to grieve over the years.  Once the acute grief is over there are reminders that happen daily, monthly, yearly, that awaken the pain of the loss. A reminder may be as simple as another child's college graduation, a wedding, or a birth.  All of these things will remind the parent of the events they will never experience with their child. The authors approached their need for answers as a research project.  They obtained participants and decided on questions they wanted to examine.  They then conducted structured interviews with the participants and the result is this book.  Although they took a scientific approach to the subject the book is a sensitive, narrative of personal stories of loss and common themes experienced by bereaved parents.