ABSTRACT
Self-reported abatement of frequency of cemetery visits was found to be consistent with the Visitation Study’s quantitative findings of a visitation trajectory. Most visitors reported the frequency of their visits to have recognizably abated, and this abatement was most evident within weeks or months of the death and funeral, but in some cases, occurred a year or more later. Most mourners found that abatement of their cemetery visitation correlated to subsidence in the intensity of their grief emotions, suggesting that cemetery visitation is commonly an important element of personal grief management. Customary pre-bereavement practices of seeing a loved one and giving gifts on personal and public anniversaries and religious festivals are commonly substituted after death with visiting the grave or memorial and placing flowers, greeting cards, and other symbolic gifts. Such substitute symbolic giving manifests ongoing love toward maintaining the relationship, and mitigates the emotions of loss, particularly at times of specific personal remembrance.
