Open to Hope Articles

Articles Home

Moving Through Grief on Foot

Posted on October 3, 2009 - by Julie Lange

Grieving is a step-by-step journey. Some stretches of the road are rougher than others. But every step is important. Every step has its gifts.

A Survivor’s Story: Aftermath of a Brother’s Death

Posted on October 2, 2009 - by Leigh Cunningham

Two a.m., Wednesday, March 17, 1979: a deathly knock on our front door disturbed the sleeping, and divided lives into two parts. Before Paul and after Paul. I was sixteen. Paul was two months past his seventeenth birthday. His driver’s license was two months old, as was his motorbike. My mother had bought it for him for his birthday, with justified reluctance. But he was persistent, and who could resist his charms. Two policemen delivered the news. My mother responded by rocking back and forth frenetically like an autistic child. My younger brother and I watched on, in horror and disbelief, feeling heavy […]

Poem: Grief in Slow Motion

Posted on October 2, 2009 - by Deborah Tornillo

Grief in Slow Motion The heart is a fragile vessel Navigating the sea of emotions Every day and every night Grief in slow motion. Drowning in our tears Surrendering to the pain And, our loss of hope We all feel the same. One day we feel happy The next day mad There are many days we don’t feel And days we’re sad. Praying for our shining light A sense of normal Grief in slow motion A journey for life. Deborah Ann Tornillo Author “36 Days Apart” Copyright© 2009 http://www.authorsden.com/dtornillo

Journal Your Journey Through Grief

Posted on October 2, 2009 - by Tony Falzano

The ceremony is over. The burial is complete. The concerns and dinners offered by others are less frequent now. The same old struggle greets each new day: how do you cope with loss while facing the reality that your life must move forward and return to “normal”? It’s at this time that most people will stay close to family and friends who will provide comfort and support. Some individuals will take proactive measures to relax the mind and body in an effort to manage their grief. But only a few will think about a simple, practical, inexpensive, every day function […]

There is No ‘But’ in Grief

Posted on October 1, 2009 - by Judith Pedersen

Does grief sit on a continuum from best to worst? It sometimes seems that way. “Yes, but I still have my husband, you don’t. Your story is worse…” “Yes, but at least I got to say ‘goodbye,’ you didn’t. Your story is worse…” “I could never get over the loss of a child. Your story is worse…” Are some losses “easier”? Do adult children grieve less for parents than husbands grieve for wives; do parents grieve more for children; do young children, laughing and playing, experience loss at all? In groups, I hear these comparisons. As I listen, I wonder. […]

Poem: The Eagle

Posted on October 1, 2009 - by Deborah Tornillo

The Eagle Peace in the midst Of the storm Lay aside, worries Discouragements Stretch my wings Rise above And, soar. Here it comes again Stretch my wings Catch the wind And, rise above it Cast my fears Remain at rest Stay in Peace. Fight through it Struggle And, strain Come out weary Worn And beat up Or rise above it. Stretch my wings Rise above it Cast my cares Ride the wind Do my best Enter into God’s rest. Deborah Ann Tornillo Copyright© 2009 http://www.authorsden.com/dtornillo

October is the Time of Change

Posted on October 1, 2009 - by Mary Jane Hurley Brant

In my younger days, I thought I could control change. I learned, and not quickly I would add, that no one can control or stop change anymore than one can hold back the tides or halt the autumn leaves transforming from green to gold. This brings me to today’s topic of change and how to understand it and accept its daily invitation. First, change is inevitable. Think of those individuals you know who, despite painful adversity, have been able to go on even after their world changed and fell down around them. These individuals accept – sometimes hourly – the […]

Renting a Mourner

Posted on September 30, 2009 - by admin

by Harriet Hodgson When there are big jobs to be done — power washing the deck, tilling a garden, painting a house — Americans rent big equipment. The job gets done quickly and the equipment is returned. Recovering from the deaths of four loved ones was a big job and I wished I could rent a mourner, someone to feel pain for me while I pulled myself together. Two loved ones, my daughter and father-in-law, died the same weekend. The losses stunned me. Six weeks later my brother died and I really wished I could rent a mourner. Then, just […]

The Hidden Wounds of Bereavement

Posted on September 30, 2009 - by Janice Ervin

On a typical workday in mid-afternoon, Sandy slipped quietly from the conference room meeting. With a rapid tap, tap, tap, her heels echoed along the corridor. Purse in hand, she checked her watch, then shook her head. The meeting had taken longer than expected, and she was running late for her doctor appointment. The elevator arrived promptly and before long, she was out the front door. Lately, she had been plagued with migraines. The throbbing pain had become such a constant companion, she hardly remembered a time before it existed. She signaled a cab by raising her arm and was […]

A Stir in the Heavens: Just Say No to Letting Go

Posted on September 29, 2009 - by Mitch Carmody

Yes, we are shaking up the status quo of grieving in this country. We are the grief stricken, we are the broken hearted, we are the disenchanted, and we are the anguished. We are the bereaved parent; we are the many who are now saying No to letting go. From the Viet Nam war to the Oklahoma bombing, the shootings at Columbine, the 9/11 terrorist attack on New York City, murders in Rwanda, Northern Ireland, South Africa, the wars in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Israel, in the countless other countries around the world and on the streets of our cities […]