Open to Hope Articles

Articles Home

Twins: Connected in Life and Death

Posted on March 8, 2024 - by Linda Pountney

Twins: Connected in Life and Death As a twin myself, the death of actor and identical twin Jon Hager was especially fascinating. Jon and Jim Hager co-starred in the old TV show, “Hee-Haw,” back in the 1970s. Jim died of a heart attack last year at just 66 years of age; Jon died at 67 on Jan. 9. It had been reported that Jon was depressed after his brother’s death; the cause of Jon’s death has not yet been determined. These nearly back-to-back deaths don’t surprise me. When the twin bond is broken, it leaves a bereft and broken twin. […]

Signs and Dreams from our Children

Posted on March 7, 2024 - by Louise Lagerman

Signs and Dreams from our Children Dreams and signs of our children. Do they really exist? Are dreams and signs a technique our deceased children use to contact us to let us know they are fine and indeed do live on? I believe with my whole heart they do. I am very fortunate and blessed. Because of my Grief Support website, I am privileged to hear about numerous dreams and signs deceased children have shown their parents and grandparents. Although they vary in context, they all have the same theme of our deceased children communicating to us that they still […]

Widower Ponders What to do With the Ring

Posted on March 6, 2024 - by Richard Ballo

What Do I Do with the Ring? Eight months after my wife Lisa died of cancer, I sat in our bedroom staring at my gold wedding band, the symbol of our love and marriage that I still wore. I didn’t want to let go. I didn’t want my marriage to end after only 8 years, and the thought of removing my ring plagued me with guilt. Yet, I knew that I had to remove my ring. I had to admit that at age 40, I was a widower with two young sons to raise. My ring is a symbol of […]

Knowing About Grief Helps with Grieving

Posted on March 4, 2024 - by Bradie Hansen

Knowing About Grief Helps with Grieving My father died almost two weeks ago after two weeks in the ICU. For most of that time, he was on a ventilator. My dad had lymphoma, and he was already in the hospital due to issues connected with an infection in his lungs and the effects the cancer. Still, no one guessed that his situation would escalate and culminate the way it did, landing him in the ICU. And no one expected him to die. Yet, here we are, a week out from my father’s wake and burial. I miss him terribly. I’m […]

Grief Can Transform the Future

Posted on March 4, 2024 - by Ilana Estelle

Grief can throw a spanner in the works, but it can also bring acceptance and closure positively, so long as we’re honest with ourselves. Our experiences can distort our perception of the past. It can feel like our memories are no longer reliable, as grief colours everything with its darkness. A SPANNER IN THE WORKS A spanner may throw our past into the works because the past isn’t always kind, so we alter how we perceive it. Loss can stop us in our tracks, and it can make us question the value and meaning of our experiences. Grief can make […]

Parentlessness with Parents

Posted on March 2, 2024 - by S. Dione Mitchell

The Realization I have 4 parents and yet most times, I feel parentless. The Story of My Parents The story of my parents began in the midst of two affairs that my mother and father had with each other; my mother having an affair outside of her marriage with the man I grew up knowing as Daddy; and my biological father having an affair outside of the marriage and family he’d built with his wife and three children. My biological father continued to raise his growing family, including a sibling my same age, a few short minutes away from where […]

The Invisibility of Grief

Posted on February 26, 2024 - by S. Dione Mitchell

The Visibility of Change My children are tweens/teens. When I think about their development throughout the years, it is clear and tangible to me the ways in which they have changed. One year, they were two feet tall. In the next year or two, they may have grown a foot. One day they were not able to tie their shoes. The next they are. One moment, they weren’t able to pronounce a word or describe its meaning, the very next, they are. My children have changed profoundly since the days of their births. And I have borne witness to these […]

A Spiritual and Healing Journey

Posted on February 26, 2024 - by Ilana Estelle

Spirituality and healing around grief is inevitably an individual and personal journey, with no two people sharing the same experiences. While my interest in spirituality started in childhood, my spiritual and healing journey started in earnest some 13+ years ago when I set up my website, The CP Diary, following my Cerebral Palsy diagnosis, aged 46. Personal reflections capture the essence of spirituality and healing. It also highlights the personal nature of spirituality and its potential to accommodate healing on multiple levels—including the physical, emotional and spiritual level. It involves connecting with our inner-selves and being in tune with the […]

Five Years into Widowhood, Life Goes On

Posted on February 20, 2024 - by Paula Ezop

Five Years into Widowhood I still can’t believe that he is gone, and perhaps I never will. And that’s all right. I never thought that I would be alone, and in my mind, I know that being alone is the hardest thing that I will ever have to do. If you have lost the love of your life, then you know what I am talking about. You confront the same unbearable pain and heartbreak each day as I do, and you too have loneliness as your constant companion. It has been five years since Eddie died. My friends and family […]

Emotional Responses to Grief

Posted on February 19, 2024 - by Ilana Estelle

Grief is a highly individual and complex emotional experience that manifests differently in each of us. People may express their grief through a variety of emotions and behaviours. Some common ways grief can manifest include: SADNESS AND TEARFULNESS Grief can often involve a deep sense of sadness with memories that can leave many people tearful. ANGER AND GUILT People can often feel angry at their situation, at themselves around their loss. Through grief, they may also direct their anger at others. Guilt around loss can be something individuals grapple with. Some individuals may also feel remorse, questioning if they should […]