Grandparents' Meaning Construction of the Loss of a Grandchild in a Terror Attack in Israel

This qualitative research study is based on in-depth interviews with 12 grandparents who had a grandchild killed in a terror attack in Israel. Two main categories that emerged from the data analysis were (a) loss in the personal context and (b) loss in the collective context. Each category was subdivided into two groups: first, grandparents whose grief centered on specific aspects of the painful loss of an intimate connection with the grandchild and grandparents who were directly exposed to the terror attack and whose narrative focused on the traumatic memory, and, second, grandparents who constructed their loss as part of the history of anti-Semitism and grandparents who constructed their loss as part of the Israeli narrative of the struggle for the land and the state of Israel. The article demonstrates how each type highlights a different aspect of grandparental bereavement as a result of a terror attack. Clinical implications of the findings are presented.