Death and Grief in Love Letters

Abstract

In the love letters of 14 couples every couple communicated about issues of death and grief, which suggests that death and grief may often have a place in the development of couple relationships. For some, writing about the possible death of self or other seemed connected to the emotional intensity and importance of their mutual love. For some the shared intimacy made the lover a key person with whom to share information, feelings and thought about recent deaths. For some, communications about death and grief seemed steps toward shared approaches to meaning making and expressing feelings regarding death and grief.