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Do you want to read stories of others who have been where you are? Are you looking for bereavement help, and advice? Look no further. We offer over 7,000 articles written by our Open to Hope authors.

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New Normal After a Son’s Suicide

Posted on October 13, 2024 - by Jean Williams

New Normal After a Son’s Suicide Five years after my son’s suicide, I stood at my picture window and smiled at the snowbirds that hovered around the feeder. They spit fluff from the seeds and it floated down, scattering hulls on the ground. A flit of wings and a brown sparrow darted along the grass. After the snowbirds left, I became surprised the sparrow didn’t fly to the food. It continued to eat what fell from the other birds’ beaks. I pitied the feathered creature. It had failed to see there was now room to eat from the bird feeder. […]

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Death of an Ex-Spouse

Posted on October 10, 2024 - by Marty Tousley

Death of an Ex-Spouse Dear Marty: I’m not really sure how to explain how I feel after losing my ex-spouse a month ago—especially since he died the same day that I was having major surgery. Consequently, after the death of my ex-spouse, I’ve had quite a few complications from my surgery. I had to take care of my two teenage boys and their grief the morning after surgery when I got the phone call about their father. The funeral (which was put on by his new young wife) was about the last four years of his life and didn’t talk […]

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Is Climate Grief Real?

Posted on October 7, 2024 - by Linda Goldman

Is Climate Grief Real? Although research on climate grief is in its infancy, researchers have begun to substantiate the impact of climate change on young people and their mental health. The U.S. government’s National Climate Assessment cited mental health concerns as a side effect of climate change, and the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy statement warning that climate change poses threats to “children’s mental and physical health (Pautz 2020).” Thanatologist Kriss Kevorkian has defined environmental grief as “the grief reaction stemming from the environmental loss of ecosystems by natural and man-made events (Rosenfield, 2016).” Cunsolo and Ellis define […]

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Re-imagining Hope After Trauma

Posted on October 6, 2024 - by Lori Grande

Re-imagining Hope The silent voice of trauma lies idle in the body. Years of dormancy may be followed by its unexpected impact, often on the precipice of healing.  As I fought for justice in my brother’s unsolved homicide, I knew I was losing my life. Over nineteen years, that awareness never became clearer to me than the moment I learned I had breast cancer.  My fight for justice, which ushered in the decline of my health, also initiated a creative approach to rise above the unresolved and touch the edge of hope. Engaging with Stress Stress can be a positive […]

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Widower Reflects on Grief Thirty Years Later

Posted on September 23, 2024 - by Mike Bernhardt

Widower Reflects on Grief One evening in my bereavement support group, a couple of months after my wife Susan died, a woman spoke about how comforting it had been to be able to cry for her first husband in the presence of her new second husband. I told her that I hoped I might meet someone so tolerant of my love for someone else. She replied, “You won’t settle for anything less.” I have been married for twenty-eight years to a woman I became friends with a few months after Susan died. Yvonne was patient and giving enough to let […]

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Widower Shares Emotional Journey

Posted on September 23, 2024 - by Mike Bernhardt

Someone Died Today No matter how prepared or unprepared we are for death, no matter how old or young we are, no matter how much we say, “I love you,” no matter how “good” or “bad” a death it was, no matter how relieved or anguished we feel, no matter what our spiritual or religious beliefs are, the death of a loved one shocks us with its finality. They are gone forever from this world, and our lives will never be the same. The Raging Storm Emotions tumble over us—intolerable pain, rage at our loved one, ourselves and God, terror […]

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Widower Finds Poetry Healing

Posted on September 23, 2024 - by Mike Bernhardt

Widower Experiences Consuming Grief My wife Susan died unexpectedly in April 1991, the Sunday after Easter. I could never have imagined beforehand how transformative an experience that would be. Nothing was true anymore but the truths of her death and my continued existence. I was shaken to my foundations, forced to decide what I would keep of myself and what I would throw away. Every aspect of my life was subject to review, from my occupation to my spiritual beliefs, from my choice of friends to my choice of doctors. Although some friends were very supportive, for about a year […]

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Longing for a Child Who has Died

Posted on September 23, 2024 - by Janice Bell Meisenhelder

Longing for a Child Who has Died The intense longing for your deceased child causes difficult emotional pain and unremitting agony. Our bodies and minds cry out deep from our core to see, hear, touch, smell and feel our child.  Although there is no satisfying these needs, bereaved parents find many ways to stay connected to their child and recommend doing so to other bereaved mothers. Parents report a lessening of the intensity of their grief when they remain connected to their child, and continue bonding practices for many years, usually their lifetime.  For the bereaved parent, the goal of […]

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Young People Grieving Over Multiple Losses

Posted on September 23, 2024 - by Linda Goldman

Young People Grieving Over Multiple Losses  A “new normal” has invaded old paradigms and left kids missing a past world, uncertain of the present, and anxious of what tomorrow will bring. More than ever, adults must become role models, listen to their children’s pleas, understand the forces behind their behaviors, and care for their tender hearts yearning to be heard and respected. Perhaps the new normal is just an open door into the transformation of antiquated ways of being that have outgrown themselves The issues and grief techniques found in the previous edition of my book, Life and Loss, are […]

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Young People Grieve Through Creativity

Posted on September 23, 2024 - by Linda Goldman

Young People Grieve Through Creativity During the pandemic, the resilience of many girls and boys soared to new levels as they courageously rose to the occasion. The following are two examples of pioneering teens, Madeleine and Lulu. Through using their attributes of perseverance and connectivity, they were both able to transform despair into activism. Thirteen-year-old Madeleine converted an eighth-grade project into a healing experience for peers experiencing a death during the pandemic. Madeleine created the COVID Memorial Quilt. She encourages others her age to join by adding a piece of the quilt in memory of a loved one.  Madeleine’s Mom […]

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