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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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When a Child Dies of Drug Addiction

Posted on April 8, 2024 - by Joni Norby

A Child Dies of Drug Addiction Ben was an addict. That declaration is enormously painful and takes even more courage to write than Ben died at age nineteen. He was an honor student, football captain, neighborhood skateboard star, altar server, little league all-star, and lead singer in a punk rock band; he was handsome, popular, kind, and gentle. He was my first born, my only boy…he was an addict and heroin killed him. When Ben was in the throes of his disease, I would jolt awake, stare at the blank ceiling, feeling my blood turn to ice. With my hands […]

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Do We Ever ‘Get Over’ the Death of a Child?

Posted on March 27, 2024 - by Anne Dionne

Getting Over a Child-Loss There was a time when I believed that people should “get over” their grief by the 12th month following a loss. After all, isn’t that what our society believes to be true? In the summer of 1976, I was employed by a doctor in a medical office building. There were several other offices on our floor, and at noon time, I would meet with some of the other doctors’ employees for lunch. One woman, whom we called Gracie, had lost her 16-year-old son two years prior in a drowning accident. Each day at lunch break, Gracie […]

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Loss of a Child: A Pain Like No Other

Posted on March 26, 2024 - by Louise Lagerman

A Pain Like No Other All loss is hard. All loss is lonely. But there is something about child-loss that puts it in a unique category. I have experienced other types of loss. When my very much loved father died in 2001, I was devastated. My father was a wonderful, kind man, a devoted husband and father. I grieved for him. I will forever miss having him in my life. I will treasure my wonderful memories of him forever. Then, in 2006, my 23-year-old daughter suddenly died. In a single phone call, my life as I knew it came to […]

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Poem Eases Sister’s Pain

Posted on March 25, 2024 - by Judy Lipson

After our sister Jane’s death, Margie and I, working long retail hours, did not communicate very often. Although we did not speak about our loss, Margie sent me a poem she’d written. She eloquently expressed her feelings in it. Who has broken into our lives? Who has spoken to our brokenness? Who keeps breaking into our presence? We don’t have all the answers. We do have a lot of questions. We search in a world of bereft. Descent upon our hearts, for we need renewing away. We await your love and power to heal and bless. Refresh us now. Enlighten us […]

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Unsolved Homicides May Destabilize Survivors

Posted on March 25, 2024 - by Lori Grande

Unsolved Homicides Destabilize Many Lives Homicide is a complicated loss, and its reflection resides in a constant state of metamorphosis with each new experience that follows in its wake.  In order to even scratch the surface of resolution of such a loss, we are propelled to find something in the horrific event to transform, to make anew within ourselves. My brother’s unsolved homicide created a process of on-going destabilization for many years.  Over time, that destabilization turned into an awareness of what is survivable and what can be transformed, even without a resolution.  I found my greatest power in self-definition […]

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Grief and Joy Merge in Love

Posted on March 25, 2024 - by Judy Lipson

Grief is Love, Joy is Love What words come to mind when we think of love? I think of emotion, devotion, adoration, and respect. Each person may have their own unique definition of love. I want to speak about love in grief and love in joy, two powerful feelings, and how I came to realize love is the connection to both. For years, the dichotomy in my brain never allowed me to witness the symmetry of grief and joy, and find a place in my heart for both. Grief is Deep Losing my cherished sisters Margie and Jane forever changed […]

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Love is Stronger than Death

Posted on March 25, 2024 - by Harriet Hodgson

I was a member of the church choir for 20 years. A line from one of the songs we sang keeps rattling around in my mind: “Love is stronger than death.” Though I sang the line fervently at the time, I doubted its truth. Years later, I lived this line and found it was true. In 2007, four family members died in a row: my daughter (mother of my fraternal twin grandkids), father-in-law, brother, and the twins’ father. My daughter and father-in-law died the same weekend. I didn’t want to look at their photos on the obit page of the […]

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Writing through Grief

Posted on March 25, 2024 - by Ilana Estelle

I write about grief to help me through the ‘grieving process’ after the loss of my twin. I hope it helps you too. Grief is complex; it’s based around individual experiences that people go through in response to loss. WRITING HELPS ME Writing helps me through the grieving process after the loss of my twin. It allows me to express how I feel, myself. The act of putting thoughts into words, I find is cathartic and healing. GRIEF IS NOT LINEAR It is important to be aware that grief is not a linear process. It does not have a defined […]

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Cleaning Out the Closet of a Deceased Loved One

Posted on March 13, 2024 - by Rachel Kodanaz

Cleaning Out the Closet With the longer days of summer upon us, it might be the right time to tackle the organizing of your spouse/partner’s personal belonging. “Cleaning out your closets” presents a significant challenge for most widows – the overwhelming thought of going through your deceased loved ones belongings and trying to decide what do with the items is by far one of the hardest pieces of widowhood.  When referring to “cleaning out the closets,” it is not just the bedroom; it includes the home office, the work office, the garage, the basement and the pile of papers that […]

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How I Surrendered to the Grief of Losing My Husband

Posted on March 9, 2024 - by Jennifer Hawkins

The Grief of Losing My Husband On February 4, 2009, I woke up to find that my husband had died in his sleep from an undetected heart condition. He was forty-nine years old. I was thirty-nine. It was the biggest shock of my life. The first two hours were a blur of emotion, pain, fear, shock, and denial. The next two and a half years have been a lesson in living life much more openly, deeply, and presently. In the immediate aftermath of his death, I discovered I had two choices. I could either surrender to what had happened, or […]

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