Open to Hope Articles

Articles Home

First Anniversary…

Posted on August 1, 2009 - by Michele Neff Hernandez

As you approach the first anniversary of losing the amazing person that shared your life, your love, your joys, and your sorrows; I have a vision I would liketo share with you…I am imagining you wearing a heavily laden backpack. This pack is filled with the searing pain of separation, the desperate fear of the unknown, the intense longing for the touch of someone who loves you, the emerging hope you have for the future, and a new love for today. You are surrounded by the beauty of the Arizona countryside, heading up the North sideof the Grand Canyon. The […]

The Grieving Father

Posted on July 29, 2009 - by Sandy Fox

by Sandy Fox Fathers grieve differently with different emotions in the loss of a child. I believe this to be true. Here is some of the information that has been gathered on men losing a child. According to research, bereaved fathers put their grief into a compartment separate from the rest of their lives. Because they feel they need to protect their families, they submerge their own grief. And they dislike being overcome by intense emotion and feel that talking about the emotion only makes it worse. They deal with grief by thinking about something else, by doing something else […]

The Emotional Impact of Stillbirth in a Multiple Pregnancy

Posted on July 28, 2009 - by Monica Novak

By Jean Kollantai – The experience of carrying two, loving two, getting ready to totally care for two lively babies at once was something I never could have imagined until it happened to me…and so was the emotional impact of the stillbirth of a twin or twins. After a good pregnancy, carefully monitored with all the latest technology, and many months of not only feeling but watching my sons demonstrate their total enthusiasm for food, each other, me, and being “alive” in general, I found myself back in a hospital bed after a c-section, holding one baby in each arm–both […]

Effective Techniques to Deal with Grief

Posted on July 22, 2009 - by admin

by Amy Twain Losing someone very dear to your heart can indeed be a truly devastating experience. There are a variety of methods in which you could reduce the hurting emotions of sorrow and loss that you feel through grief counseling. Though we don’t like to be labeled as ‘weak’ or inept in coping with our pain and misery, sometimes it’s still very comforting and helpful in knowing that there are valuable and efficient ways in making our life easier. That’s why we have some of these techniques which can be effective in dealing with our grieving process. And these […]

Getting on With Life—What Does It Mean?

Posted on July 20, 2009 - by Alice Wisler

Of all the statements and spiritual platitudes quoted to me since my son, Daniel’s, death the phrase that I hear most frequent makes me squirm the most. “You have got to get on with your life.” Recently, I quit squirming long enough to ponder the meaning behind this phrase that is usually said to the bereaved in the form of a command. Exactly what does this phrase mean? What are people implying when they say it? I was pregnant when Daniel died and three months later, I gave birth to a baby girl. Wasn’t that getting on with my life? […]

Grief Support on the Web

Posted on July 18, 2009 - by Sandy Fox

by Sandy Fox There is a wealth of information on the web dealing with bereavement support. I will list for you some of the sites and leave it up to you to check them out. Perhaps there is something here that will help you on the road to recovery. CHAT ROOMS www.groww.org/chat/gr.shtml GROWW offers a grief recovery chat room that is open 24/7. They also host many types of moderated grief support chats. It is a place where peer groups teach that you have permission to grieve. It is a place of belonging and one that helps you to get […]

A Single White Rose

Posted on July 17, 2009 - by Monica Novak

By Barbara A. Glanz – In 1971 I faced the most difficult experience of my life, one which has changed me forever. I had grown up in a small town in Iowa where families were the center of our lives. I loved dolls and babysitting, and I could hardly wait to be a mother! I even became a high school English teacher because I loved working with young people. In 1965 I graduated from the University of Kansas and began teaching in LaGrange, Illinois, in 1966 I married a wonderful man named Charlie, and on April 2, 1969, we were […]

A culinary genius…

Posted on July 17, 2009 - by Eric Tomei

I used to laugh when my Dad used to make stuff for us in the kitchen. I can tell you it just was not something he was very good at. Thank God, most of us are fortunate to have two parents if for no other reason than not to starve. My mom thankfully made sure we were always well fed. But I have to tell you three and a half years since my Dad’s passing of an unexpected heart attack, I miss some of the stuff he used to make. A culinary genius he was not, but what he made […]

When Life Happens…Hints for Surviving Traumatic Loss

Posted on July 15, 2009 - by admin

by Kent Whitaker Life happens to all of us, but have you noticed that some people come out of trials stronger, and some come out crushed? We can’t stop bad things from happening, but we do have some control over how we respond to them. I wasn’t much better at this than the next guy before my wife and son were murdered five years ago. But I have learned a few tricks. In times of loss we need friends and family more than ever, to help us from feeling isolated and helpless. But the sad thing is, now people don’t […]

Grief in the Workplace

Posted on July 15, 2009 - by Jane Galbraith

The workplace is like your second family to many people. Let’s face it, some people spend more time at work than with their immediate families!! After my mother died I don’t think that I was a very good employee. Of course, I couldn’t show it. You have to try to act like your old “normal” self. That in itself is exhausting. People in the workplace are sympathetic for a short time and then like the rest of society “moves on” and don’t mention anything about it again. In the meantime you feel like the walking wounded getting through your daily […]