Approaching one´s death evokes a need to retrospectively look back on the lived life in order to construct meaning and understanding (Koestenbaum 1984). Age is significant for how a life review is done. When we are near the close of our life´s journey the paths we have been taken become more visible (Andrews 2008) at the same time as life experiences contribute to understanding since the past is constructed and reconstructed in the light of new experiences in the present (Riessman 2002; Mishler 1995).
In qualitative intreviews with 19 women and men aged between 55 - 70 who have ongoing long term alcohol problems, recurring themes of life reviews were present in narratives about ageing with alcohol problems. The aim of this presentation is to present these themes which are examples of how middle aged and elderly people retrospectively look back on the past and find that life hasn´t become what they hoped for since alcohol and drinking have taken a too big part. The themes can be described as mouring of the past, acceptance of the past and gratitude to the past. Understanding how the past and present are linked together is necessary in order to fing guidance for the future (Howards 2006). Constructing past experiences from alcohol problems as meaningful can be a future path to reduced alcohol consumption and abstinence.