What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the Sunset.
Simone de Beauvoir
William Worden and others conducted a two-year study – the Harvard Child Bereavement Study – on the effects of the death of a parent on children. Worden presented the findings from that study in the book Children and Grief: When a Parent Dies.
While styles of grieving differ among children – just as they do among adults, the developmental stages of children also give rise to specific needs that adults should be aware of and be prepared to help address. William Worden has recognized 10 of these.
