“Now That Mom Is in the Lord's Arms, I Just Have to Live the Way She Taught Me”

This article reports findings from an exploratory, qualitative study of African American, middle-aged daughters' responses to the death of their elderly mothers. Particular attention was given to the coping strategies described by daughters in their bereavement experience. In-depth, open-ended interviews were conducted with 30 African American women ranging in age from 39 to 68 whose elderly mothers were 65 years of age or older and widowed at the time of death. Results indicate that themes of reciprocity, family continuity and cognitive strategies framing an elderly mother's death as an important loss to family-community are important aspects of coping and life restructuring processes for these women. The implications of these findings for social work and future research are also discussed.