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Death Anniversary Dates Can Carry Heavy Weight

Posted on June 1, 2011 - by Kathryn Williams Raths

Dates come and go, but certain ones stick out and carry a dark and heavy weight. The energy of these particular dates are associated with a loss.  This anniversary date forces you into a time warp charged with painful memories of the horrid event.  How can you free yourself from this emotionally exhaustive annual pain?   Start by marking the date with a new and positive tradition. Perhaps if your father passed through VA hospice (like mine), make it an annual tradition to visit a veteran (someone who is grateful for your time).  This might be difficult at first because […]

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Thoughts -life of a suicide

Posted on May 31, 2011 - by admin

My Brother Jason died from suicide about 11 years ago,I wrote a book about his suicide and the afterlife and working in the mental health field

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One man strugle to put his life back together

Posted on May 31, 2011 - by admin

As I mediate on the past event of what occurred in my life, I wonder if there was not a God could I have survived this devastation. So many times I wanted to give up and just say enough is enough I don’t need all this stress and pain in my life. But because of love, giving up always seems too vanished in thin air. What I am trying to say is, because I know that God love me, and He won’t leave me to handle this all alone, I gain strength to hold on, and then I loved my […]

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Brianna I just want to wake up and see you

Posted on May 30, 2011 - by admin

My daughter always woke me up by climbing into bed with me, wiggling her toes into me, and touching her nose to mine. Then when I opened my eyes she would break into this smile wrinkle her nose and laugh, some times so hard she would snort which would make both of us laugh harder. She is gone now she was just right there swimming next to us and just swam off a bit. Now she is gone , why …? She is 7.she is my only daughter. Yes I still have my two boys 11 and 3.I want my […]

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Boarders Without Borders: How New Events Trigger Old Grief

Posted on May 30, 2011 - by Joan Haskins

Have you ever had an unseen boarder that caused emotional turmoil, penetrating all of your carefully closeted borders and refusing to leave? Only recently did I recognize unresolved grief as an emotional boarder that relentlessly hung on for too many years.  Now that I am nearing life’s sunset, some of my daily patterns have begun to be more clearly understood. It wasn’t until my Aunt Stella died that the grief I felt from losing my mother had never really been resolved. Mother had passed away three months before Aunt Stella’s death, having fought a courageous battle against a rare form of […]

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Widow Learning to ‘Just Be’

Posted on May 30, 2011 - by Laurel D. Rund

It’s funny about how you meet that special someone in your life at the most unexpected time. I was getting my hair cut and colored one day without any thought other than, I really, really need to have my roots colored.   Picture this, a woman sitting in the hair salon chair with her hair sticking up as if she had stuck her finger in an electrical socket.  Now come on, this is supposed to be a place where you can look your worst so that you can look your best – right? The woman who cuts and colors my […]

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My fiance died four days ago

Posted on May 29, 2011 - by admin

Four days ago my fiance, Bob, died of a heart attack. We were true soul mates, for lack of a less cliched phrase. We had so much in common it was like we were twins. We had only been together for eight months, but after only a few months of dating became engaged. Every day with Bob was better than the last and we were joyfully anticipating spending the rest of our lives together. I am completely devastated and wonder how I can go on without him. I know that this happens to other people all the time but it […]

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Hats Off to a World War II Vet

Posted on May 29, 2011 - by Mary Jane Hurley Brant

Yesterday was a wonderful day. While standing in line at the pharmacy, the gentleman behind me smiled. I don’t go to the CVS to make friends, but somehow yesterday I did. This older fellow’s smile, along with his vet’s hat, was engaging. He looked too young to have been in WWII so I asked him. “Yes, I was in the Navy, this was my ship.  (He pointed to his hat.) Spent a good deal of time in New Guinea and the South Pacific.” He was tall, tan and handsome. I thought he must have been just a kid back then. […]

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After Hospice Experience, Woman Volunteers

Posted on May 29, 2011 - by Kimberly Wencl

I had been thinking about becoming a hospice volunteer for a while.  It would come to me as a passing thought every now and then. I would consider it for a bit and then put aside.  Little did I know just how soon and how clearly my indecision would be reconciled. Our local hospice house is on the outskirts of town on what used to be a farm place.  There is a windmill and a few trees but farm fields mostly surround the house.  It looks like a home – not a place of death.  I had tour a shortly […]

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What To Do With a Loved One’s Possessions?

Posted on May 28, 2011 - by Shirley Wiles-Dickinson

What to do with your loved one’s possessions? Less than two months after my sister’s murder, her 24-year-old daughter (my niece) called and asked for my help.   My sister owned her home and the insurance company would pay for a total restoration; however, everything had to be removed from the home before the restoration could begin. When my niece was talking to me about this, I realized I was holding my breath.  My sister was murdered in her home and now, we had to walk into that home and clear it of all her possessions.  Of course, I told my […]

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