The longest relationship many of us will share in our lifetime is that with our siblings. Siblings sometimes experience the loss of their brothers and sisters to drunk drivers. Despite the risks associated with drinking and driving, this behavior continues to occur. This study explores drunk driving, sibling loss, and loss during emerging adulthood. This study explores the ways in which dialectical tensions and liminality take shape across educational and professional contexts when emergent adults lose her/his siblings to drunk drivers. Two dialectical tensions emerged in this work: openness-closedness and connectedness-autonomy. Surviving siblings engage in four patterns of praxis in negotiating loss-related dialectical tensions: disorientation, segmentation, balance, and sharing. Negotiation of these dialectical tensions helps surviving siblings navigate through liminal spaces after a significant loss. Often times, the other party in the communicative act mediates the communication and dialectical tensions surrounding loss. The findings herein suggest that academic and professional institutions as well as instructors and supervisors should engage in grief communication training. In addition, surviving siblings should seek out a space of comfort where they may disclose and discuss their experiences of loss and grief. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work was possible, in large part, due to the incredible support, guidance, and encouragement of several people. First, I want to acknowledge the courageous surviving siblings who came forward to share their experiences and stories. Your willingness to participate in this study made this work possible; it is your participation that provided the foundation of-and the reason for-this work. This study is for you, and for your siblings. I also wish to acknowledge Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). You provided invaluable support in this work; it is because of you that I was able to connect with other surviving siblings and engage in this research. Thank you for believing in this work, and for supporting my goal to engage in meaningful research surrounding sibling loss and drunk driving. I wish to thank my advisor, mentor, and thesis committee chair, Dr. Deanna Fassett, who supported this research idea from the near beginning of my graduate studies. You helped me see the relevance and importance of this work on an academic level. During my moments of uncertainty, you pushed me forward. Your support, kindness, and guidance allowed me to engage in this work that not only speaks to theory within communication studies, but also speaks to a larger audience beyond academia. Your guidance and patience throughout this work, and throughout the graduate program, make me the scholar I am today. I would like to acknowledge the two scholars who generously served as thesis