As we prepare for the holidays, decorate the house, and plan gatherings and visits, we also reflect on past years. We remember good times, meals, festivities, and past rituals. These reflections may prompt us to bring out our old photo albums and reminisce. We might feel homesick for the homes, communities, and societies that now only exist in our memories. As we reflect on the past, we miss those who are no longer with us. Such loss can lead to both personal and cultural bereavement. Cultural bereavement is experienced when we long for food, music, rituals, and customs that shaped our earlier lives. Cultural bereavement is particularly powerful among immigrants, but everyone goes through periods when they miss the ways of the past, where they long for people, places, and times that are longer exist or if they do, they are no longer available to us. Cultural bereavement often occurs alongside personal bereavement, presenting unique challenges for older adults who retain deep memories of previous eras and traditions.

Cultural bereavement is experienced when ways of life have irrevocably changed. It could result from the loss of a loved one, the loss of health, the loss of community through a move, the loss of a country due to migration and immigration, the loss of social trust due to political change, and the loss of a way of life due to social change. When, for whatever reason, we must cope with a new and transformed cultural reality, we experience a degree of cultural bereavement. It is a reaction of grief experienced when that which is familiar no longer exists (Eisenbruch, 1990).

Acknowledging our grief and honoring our loss is an adaptive and healthy response to cultural transformation. However, our feelings of grief and loss can also lead to complications that undermine our enjoyment........

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