ABSTRACT

When we think of loss we think of the loss, through death, of people we love. But loss is a far more encompassing theme in our life. For we lose not only through death, but also by leaving and being left, by changing and letting go and moving on. And our losses include not only our separations and departures from those we love, but our . . . losses of romantic dreams, impossible expectations, illusions of freedom and power, illusions of safety—and the loss of our own younger self.