XI. The Enduring Role of Generativity One as Leader and Grandparent

Conclusions

Even though the death of a child is of much greater significance than the death of a project, the experience of loss in either case can be shattering to a person’s sense of self and personal worth in the world. In the case of either the death of a child or the ending of a project, the Generativity One process is disrupted. One of the actors has had to leave the stage and those playing the roles of Generativity Two, Three and Four will forever miss this Generativity One actor. All of the other roles are impacted by this loss, and no one on stage will ever quite be the same. This, we believe, is one of the primary reasons for devoting time and attention to Generativity One. Without this first role, the other three roles lose some of their meaning and dynamics. Consequently, we will be referring back to Generativity One throughout our analysis of the other three roles.