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In the Forest: Unsettled by a Stillbirth

Posted on October 8, 2015 - by Larry Patten

Serena asked me to help bury her child. This question occurred a couple of years after we met. I wonder now if Serena’s request, accompanied by her intense gaze, had been within her heart when she first worshiped at the rural church I then served. Her stillborn child, named Eve, was carried to near the due date. After her birth, Serena and her husband Jake shoveled a hole in the dark forest behind their cabin and lowered their child into the earth. There wasn’t any ritual, or prayers. According to Serena, they trudged back to the cabin, returned to their […]

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Silently Born

Posted on October 7, 2015 - by Pamela Christie

Our lives were forever changed on November 10, 2013. Our granddaughter, Sophia Grace, was silently born. No warning. No signs. No heartbeat. We questioned the midwives, who acted like it was another day “at the office,” and the doctor, who said our daughter could go home for a day or two to prepare herself to give birth to a dead baby. We questioned and blamed ourselves – how could we not have known? The baby had been quiet before, and we had gone to the hospital to check on her … all was well. It is believed by many that […]

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Traumatic Loss in the Military

Posted on October 7, 2015 - by Bonnie Carroll

Military loss is a unique kind of loss, but many others have been in your shoes. Bonnie Carroll shares her experience with Dr. Gloria Horsley. Carroll is the founder of TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors in the military). According to her, military loss is a very different experience. There are different words in our culture to talk about these kinds of losses. Someone “gave the ultimate sacrifice” and there’s even a national day of mourning. There are national cemeteries just for those who died in the military. You can find these throughout the country. These are all ways we […]

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Healing after Murder

Posted on October 6, 2015 - by Mary Jane Cronin

At the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) conference, Dr. Gloria Horsley interviews Mary Jane Cronin, the author of November Mourning and someone who has personal experience with healing after murder. She works in hospice care, following the murder of her son Jeremy in 1998. Comfort and solace following her loss is what inspired her to work in hospice care. After his murder, she felt like she had nobody to turn to. She began journaling and writing letters to heaven. Cronin found support in online support communities. Following Jeremy’s trial, she found incredible support from victim advocate groups. Talking […]

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Beryl Kaminsky: Journaling to Cope with Grief

Posted on October 5, 2015 - by Beryl Kaminsky

Journaling can be a fantastic way to help you down your grieving path, and Beryl Kaminsky shares tips on how to journal from her own experience. As the author of Mending the Broken Heart: After Your Child Dies, Kaminsky shares with readers how she used journaling in her own healing process as a bereaved mother. She’s a counselor in Houston, Texas who specializes in working with the bereaved. She recommends to all of her clients that they journal about what they’re going through. It’s effective, affordable, but most people resist it. Everyone wants to feel better, but they also want […]

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Thomas Attig: Remembering

Posted on October 4, 2015 - by Thomas Attig

The author of How We Grieve: Relearning the World, Dr. Tom Attig, talks with the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) about remembering as a key part of the healing process. Wherever you turn, you miss your loved one. There are gifts, photos, mementos, food, music, places, and occasions. From family members to friends, even your own reflection can trigger a memory. Reminding you of your separation is incredibly painful. The first reminders occur only once, and fewer occur over time. However, you never stop having first encounters. Fresh pain can surprisingly be brought up even years later. Still, […]

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Empowering Bereaved Families

Posted on October 3, 2015 - by Alan Pedersen

Stacey Redmond joins the Open to Hope show to share her story about losing her son, Tim. He was killed during a stabbing at the Giants ballpark in San Francisco. Dr. Gloria Horsley and Alan Pedersen from The Compassionate Friends also welcome Lew Cox to the show, an advocate from Tacoma, Washington, who lost his daughter, Carmen and is now an expert in victim advocacy. Redmond was quickly engulfed in the stigma of losing a loved one to murder—a situation that makes many people uncomfortable, and ultimately results in the shunning of those who are grieving. Redmond’s son was killed […]

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Mary Rockefeller Morgan: Grieving the Loss of a Twin

Posted on October 2, 2015 - by Dr. Gloria and Dr. Heidi Horsley

Losing a twin is a very unique grief, and one that Mary Rockefeller famously experienced in the 1960s. The disappearance of her brother at sea, with his body never being recovered, was one that made media headlines for weeks. On this episode, Drs. Gloria and Heidi Horsley interview Mary Morgan, a licensed psychotherapist who specializes in twin loss and sibling loss. Most recently, she’s focused on twins who lost a sibling in the 9/11 World Trade Center tragedy. Dr. Gloria Horsley lived in New York City in the 60s, and at the time Dr. Morgan (then Rockefeller) had a family […]

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Traumatic Loss: Dr Dale Larson

Posted on October 2, 2015 - by Dr. Gloria and Dr. Heidi Horsley

Dr. Dale Larson joins Drs. Gloria and Heidi Horsley to talk about the shocking loss of a child, particularly in an environment that’s supposed to be “safe” such as school or during an extracurricular activity. He specializes in traumatic loss and teaches at Santa Clara University. He was particularly in the headlines after the Newtown tragedy, and says that many bereaved people can just tell when someone will listen. Dr. Gloria Horsley has experienced that, having worked as a therapist for several years and having many people approach her simply because they want to share. Comments can seem like “uncaring […]

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The Day I Lost My Oxygen…and How I Got It Back

Posted on October 1, 2015 - by Kim Niles

“I’m sorry, but there was nothing we could do…she’s gone,” the doctor stated in a professional tone of voice on that life-changing Thanksgiving morning. I felt as though my stomach and heart had been knocked out of me, then after the initial shock, as though I couldn’t breathe at all. It felt as though grief and life had knocked my breath out of me and took all of my oxygen away. I was only 19 when my 22 year-old sister, Melody, died on Thanksgiving Day, but I wasn’t new to grief. I had already experienced the devastating deaths of my […]

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