Death, although being part of human development, in its last stage, it is still not so debated in social circles, being associated to pain and suffering, because it characterizes the breaking of affective bonds, besides making us remember of our own finitude. When a mother loses her son, she faces a lacerating pain, as if one part of her has died together with her son, it lacks words to define such pain. The present is a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and field research. The data collection was conducted through a focal group with four mothers who lost their children during adult stage, who have passed away at least five years ago, women who reside in a municipality in the northeast of Rio Grande do Sul state. The analysis and interpretation of data was carried out with content analysis. The relevance of this study resides in the possibility of producing reflections about maternal mourning allowing planning of actions which involve the mourners, family and community promoting health, resignification of feelings and completeness of the individual.