Open to Hope Articles

Articles Home

It Was Not the Same: Caregiving After Sibling Loss

Posted on September 22, 2026 - by Dr. Angela Dean

When my mother had a recent medical crisis, on my way home from the hospital nearly in tears, I called a first cousin. I was overwhelmed by a grief that felt new and heavy. I reached for someone who loves me and my mom, someone who has been in our family for longer than I have. She was kind enough to answer and stay on the line. She listened, was empathic, and said the right things. After we spoke, I felt I still needed more. So, I called my aunt. Similarly, I felt heard, empathized with, and truly supported. While the conversation left me feeling better than the one with her daughter, somewhere in the middle of that conversation, I […]

Coping With the Sudden Death of a Spouse: A Therapist’s Compassionate Guide

Posted on September 17, 2026 - by Heidi Horsley

Sudden death of a spouse is one of the most disorienting experiences a human can survive. There is no preparation, no goodbye, no chance to say what mattered. Here are 9 compassionate, therapist-tested ways to cope with the sudden death of a spouse and start finding your footing again.

He’s Everywhere

Posted on September 14, 2026 - by carolbethanderson

Five days after my husband’s death of cancer at the age of fifty-five, I stood in our master bathroom. To my right was our closet, stuffed with my clothes and Jason’s—ties he’d barely worn in years since his company got more casual, wrinkle-free button-downs and khakis, t-shirts from concerts he’d attended, and F-1 racing fan gear. I walked past the vanity, spotting his razor and toothbrush. His towel was still hanging over the shower’s glass door. When I stepped into our room, I saw Jason’s shoes organized perfectly in the soft, compartmented contraption hanging off the bathroom door. Far less […]

Continuing Bonds: How Staying Connected to a Loved One Helps You Heal

Posted on September 11, 2026 - by Heidi Horsley

Continuing bonds is the healthy, research-supported idea that we don’t have to “let go” of those we love to heal. Here’s what continuing bonds means, why sensing a loved one’s presence is normal, and how to stay connected.

Rethinking Sympathy in Times of Loss

Posted on September 9, 2026 - by Hope Reger

Judgment in Grief: A Societal Reflection As a society, we must ask ourselves: have we reached a point where the level of sympathy offered to grieving families depends on the choices made by their loved ones? It is troubling to consider that families may receive varying degrees of compassion based on how their loved one passed away—whether from cancer, overdose, accident, suicide, heart attack, or murder. This raises the question: are we so critical of others that we allow our judgments to influence who is deserving of more or less sympathy? Debating Irrelevant Issues While debates about whether addiction is […]

25 Years After September 11th: What I Learned About Grief, Families, and Hope

Posted on September 7, 2026 - by Heidi Horsley

Twenty-five years after September 11th, I continue to think about the families I came to know through my work with the FDNY–Columbia University Family Guidance Program. I worked closely with families who lost a firefighter in the World Trade Center attacks. I remain in touch with some of these families today, which has allowed me to witness how grief, resilience, and hope continue to evolve over time. Some of the children I once knew have grown into adults and even followed in their parents’ footsteps by becoming firefighters themselves. One of the most important things I learned is that grief […]

Grief and Sleep: Why Loss Steals Your Rest and How to Get It Back

Posted on September 5, 2026 - by Heidi Horsley

Grief and sleep problems go hand in hand — loss disrupts rest for the vast majority of grieving people. Here’s why grief wrecks your sleep, when to be concerned, and gentle, practical ways to rest again.

Maggie’s Love: A Feathered Friend and a Lost Goodbye

Posted on September 4, 2026 - by Veronica Crawford

For several weeks I watched from the kitchen window as a magpie, who I came to call Maggie, rested in our backyard. From a distance I could see that he had an injured leg, but whenever I attempted to get closer he would fly away. One evening I arrived home from work to find Maggie squawking in the tree next to our garage. I was surprised to see him here, as in the past he had never come so close to the house. The winter weather had been relentless for days with constant wind and rain. Maggie was soaked to […]

Our Breath Buoy: Grief & Breathwork

Posted on September 2, 2026 - by Katty Douraghy

No matter how long we’ve been on our grief journey, we know grief doesn’t move in a straight line. There is no set timeline, and it certainly doesn’t follow a clearly defined path. It arrives in waves, sometimes slowly and quietly, and other times fiercely and loudly. When a wave of emotion hits, our sympathetic nervous system goes into fight-or-flight mode in response to the stress grief brings on. It feels as if we are drowning in a sea of sorrow as our heart rate climbs, we tense up, and our breath turns shallow and fast. Although this is a normal stress response, it […]

New York City: 25 Years of Healing and Hope

Posted on September 1, 2026 - by Heidi Horsley

Over the past 25 years, I have watched New York City carry unimaginable loss while continuing to grow, rebuild, and find hope. What stays with me most is how people came together. Families, first responders, neighbors, volunteers, and strangers supported one another in extraordinary ways. In the midst of grief, there was also an incredible sense of connection and community. As the years passed, I watched the city change. Lower Manhattan came back to life. New buildings rose, families grew, and children like mine came of age in a city forever shaped by 9/11. The 9/11 Memorial and Museum became […]