According to the most universally used scale for measuring psychological distress, the Holms and Rahe Readjustment Scale, becoming a widow holds top rank for the most taxing life-event. Unless specifically defined otherwise, it is generally understood that the term ‘widow’ refers to a heterosexual female. Consequently, few studies highlight the psychological distress of self-identified lesbian widows, with even fewer examining their resiliency. Resiliency is the capacity to recover from difficulties, where individuals use their personal skill sets to reengage themselves within their environment. To our knowledge, no current research directly compares features of both lesbian and heterosexual widow resiliency within the same qualitative analysis. We seek to understand key features and possible differences in resiliency between self-identified lesbian and self-identified heterosexual widows. Our intention is to learn what types of support best aid resiliency among widows, and whether these support systems are readily accessible to lesbian widows in mainstream heterosexist U.S. society. To measure resiliency, we are conducting voluntary, in-person, one-on-one tape-recorded interviews of 15 lesbian and 15 heterosexual widows. Inclusion criteria required participants be at least 45 years of age and widowed for a minimum of one year at the time of interview. We analyzed interview data through the constant comparative analysis method. We found differences between groups in a variety of themes related to resiliency (i.e., perception of available support systems, and effectiveness of those systems). Participants in the research will have given us an understanding of the underlying attitudes and social dynamics that influence resiliency in this context, helping us identify the conceptual framework needed to best improve resiliency among lesbian and heterosexual widowed populations.