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Webinar: ‘Am I Still a Sibling?’

Posted on July 25, 2015 - by Alan Pedersen

A special hour-long webinar from the Open to Hope foundation, the Death of a Sibling, features Alicia “Allie” Sims Franklin, LICSW and the big sister of Austin along with Tracy Milne, the big sister of Andrew. Both women lost a sibling and understand there’s a unique kind of lifelong loss that occurs in these situations. Dr. Heidi Horsley of the Open to Hope foundation and the President of The Compassionate Friends Alan Pedersen lead the discussion. Milne is also a member of The Compassionate Friends, serving as the Sibling Representative. Today, Franklin works as a grief counseling specialist, bringing her […]

Elaine Mansfield: Rituals after a Spouse-Loss

Posted on July 25, 2015 - by Elaine Mansfield

Drs. Gloria and Heidi Horsley interview Elaine Mansfield during this episode of the Open to Hope Foundation show. Mansfield is an Open to Hope author and Jungian student of over 40 years. After losing her husband, she embarked on a personal journey for hope, healing and recovery. She met her husband when she was 21 and he was 25. Both were students. “We sort of grew up together,” she said, recalling their Vietnam rallying during their years at Cornell. Avid yogis, meditators and psychology students, “we kind of grew together and created ourselves as adults together,” she says. Mansfield lost […]

Patti Anewalt: Hospice and the Latino Community

Posted on July 24, 2015 - by Gloria Horsley

Patti Anewalt of Hospice and Community Care in Pennsylvania spoke with Dr. Gloria Horsley about hospices and Latino culture during the 2015 Association for Death Education and Counseling conference. “The most important way to reach out to other cultures is to hire staff from that culture,” Anewalt explains. Thanks to a grant, the organization was able to hire a Latino bereavement counselor, which has drastically helped with providing support and services to Latino grievers in the area. “She’s really the right person,” Anewalt says. This counselor serves as the bridge between the Latino community and the organization. Particularly in the […]

Yie Foung: Donor Care

Posted on July 24, 2015 - by Heidi Horsley

Yie Foung is a former Designated Requestor at Live On New York, and currently works closely with donor families. She spoke with Dr. Heidi Horsley, the Executive Director of the Open to Hope Foundation, during the Association for Death Education and Counseling conference. “A lot of my work is working with bereaved families,” she explains. She helps them commit to the recipient, as well as to connect with services and programs to support their own journey in this process. She works with donor’s families who are experiencing the process of solid tissue as well as organ donations. She’s committed to […]

Vicki Panagotacos: Gaining Traction in the Second Year

Posted on July 23, 2015 - by Gloria Horsley

The author of the book Gaining Traction, Dr. Vicki Panagotacos, spoke with Dr. Gloria Horsley during the 2015 Association for Death Education and Counseling conference. In addition to operating her own therapy practice, Dr. Panagotacos is a researcher and committed to sharing suggestions on coping with grief—particularly beyond that tough first year. Many times the second year “ended up being tougher than the first year,” she explains, which was discovered after working with several patients in grief. Oftentimes, the “goal” is to get to that first year mark, but then what? It can be challenging to look beyond. Things like […]

Ed Salisbury: Helping Men find Hope after Loss

Posted on July 22, 2015 - by Gloria Horsley

“Brother Ed,” a Texas native, welcomed Dr. Gloria Horsley at the 2015 Association for Death Education and Counseling conference. When asked what advice he had for men who were in grief, Salisbury says, “First and foremost, schedule time to be still. Pause. Reboot. When I get into my car, every time I sit in my car, fasten my seatbelt, I close my eyes and I take three deep breaths.” Particularly in the US, it’s expected that people—and especially men—have to do it all. They’re constantly moving, and in that movement they try to forget the negative. However, it can fester. […]

The Compassionate Friends; People Helping People through Bereavement

Posted on July 21, 2015 - by Dr. Gloria and Dr. Heidi Horsley

Drs. Gloria and Heidi Horsley interviewed married couple Michele Muro and Babe-Anthony Muro on The Open to Hope Foundation show, in collaboration with The Compassionate Friends. The Muros lost daughter/stepdaughter Lori in an automobile collision while she was serving in the military. Gloria and Heidi also interview Arnie and Varda Wendorf, who also lost their daughter Lauren in a car accident. Following the loss of Lauren, the Wendorfs teamed up with The Compassionate Friends to become co-leaders for the Staten Island New York chapter. Michele says her daughter was just 24 when she died, and the family “was at a […]

10 Artistic Activities to Help With Grief

Posted on July 21, 2015 - by Michelle Jarvie

The catacombs of my thoughts, as I grieved the loss of my husband, were painful and all-encompassing…if I didn’t distract myself. A comment, picture, motorcycle, or even a happy memory could throw me into a spiral that consumed my world for hours. One day, I got a package in the mail from my friend Jessica. Inside, I pulled out three envelopes, each one thicker than the last. I was quite puzzled as I found the first one held half a dozen colorful squares of construction paper. Each was a different size, but approximately a three-inch square. The next envelope held […]

Richard Sightings

Posted on July 20, 2015 - by Basia Mosinski

Soon after my beloved son Richard died suddenly of a pulmonary embolism at age 46 in September of 2014, my family and I began experiencing what we call ‘Richard Sightings’. For us, a ‘sighting’ is a coincidence or synchronicity that reminds us of him or causes us to feel his presence. Richard was my only child. His death was my worst nightmare. It hasn’t been easy to move from my worst fear, heart-break, pain, suffering, and anger, to feelings of love, support and connection. Twenty years prior, I experienced another sudden tragedy when my stepson Logan was killed in a […]

At My Father’s Desk: Dementia’s Silent Toll

Posted on July 20, 2015 - by Larry Patten

Grief can elbow its way into life long before death. This I remember . . . I visit my parents’ home. Only Mom lives there now. Because of dementia, Dad has resided in a memory care facility for nearly three months. He sleeps often. Awake he can be silent. Alert, he will often express himself in the third person, or engage in various—and disturbing—hallucinations. Dementia is awful. Dad’s in his golden years. Mom, too. Nothing glitters. Grief lurks. In my Dad’s office at home, I sit at his desk. One task on this visit has become sorting through my father’s […]