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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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Woman Overwhelmed by Series of Major Losses

Posted on March 30, 2009 - by Bob Baugher

Hannah writes in:  I buried my only son last year. But my story starts way before that. He was a Marine, he left as soon as he graduated. He did two tours in Iraq and came home in 2005. In July of 2006 he went to work for someone that I went to grade school and high school with. He got a beijing job working for a private security company stationed in Kuwait. I last saw him in October of 2006 when he came home for two weeks to attend his friend’s wedding. We spent about 10 days together. It […]

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Comfort

Posted on March 30, 2009 - by Sandy Fox

by Sandy Fox Time heals…she is in a better place…she is still with you…you should exercise every day…there, now, don’t you feel better? No, I don’t, and neither do you if you have lost a child. Our grief is with us always and there is nothing that will make it go away or make us forget. We will always be devastated, but eventually we learn to live again. In her newest book, Comfort, Ann Hood takes us on a journey with her 5-year-old daughter, Grace, who died suddenly from strep throat, a journey for Hood that will no doubt last […]

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Mentioning Deceased Child’s Name is a Gift to Mom

Posted on March 30, 2009 - by Sandy Fox

by Sandy Fox — I often think of an afternoon stage production I attended with five friends because it confirms to me that my child lives on in other hearts as well as mine. While waiting on line to get in to the production, I saw an old aquaintance whose chidren knew my daughter Marcy. The mother, Yetta, and her son Mark were there to see the production also. Mark’s wife wrote it and stars in it. After saying hello to Yetta, I was introduced to her son. “Mark, this is Sandy Fox. Do you remember Sandy’s daughter, Marcy Finerman? […]

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Fried Clams and Healing

Posted on March 29, 2009 - by Eric Tomei

By Eric Tomei — One of the reasons I love my job is that we talk about food all the time. If we are not talking about food, we are eating food, planning to eat food, or wishing people would bring in food. Today at the health clinic, one of our patients was talking about fried clams, and she said that the reason that she ate them was to bond and connect with her Dad. It turns out that he had loved fried clams. Immediately, I began thinking of how many experiences I had with my dad that were similar […]

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Springtime…cleaning and remembering

Posted on March 28, 2009 - by Sandy Fox

by Sandy Fox Springtime. A time to clean house, clean the yard, and, as I do so, just another season to think about my daughter and how much I miss her. She has been gone now for 15 years. I clean the house, glancing at the boxes in my closet of what is left of her life. It is compacted into a small corner of the closet. There is not much. Some award, some writings, some childhood items, all the lovely notes and remembrances from others, and most of all, the photos. Photos that are worth a thousand words, a […]

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Surviving the suicide of my child

Posted on March 28, 2009 - by admin

By Terrye Harris On December 13, 2004, my world shattered into a million pieces. After a 2 year long battle with schizophrenia, my youngest son, Jonathan took his own life at the age of 19. The day Jonathan died, I kept telling myself this is the worst day of my life. Little did I know through the haze of shock that surrounded me,that there would be many more worse days to follow. The first six months, it was all I could do to keep breathing. During this time I believe I could have actually laid down and willed myself to […]

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Natasha Richardson’s Family Donates Her Organs, Honors Her Life

Posted on March 28, 2009 - by Reg Green

By Reg Green — Natasha Richardson’s heart-wrenching death from a skiing accident should explode at least one myth: that donating the organs of a loved one is in some way disrespectful. It’s clear that her family made their decision out of love and that, by helping others, her stature has been enhanced not diminished. And that is true of all those other decisions to donate made by anonymous families in lonely hospital rooms around the world. They allow the doctors to take the body parts of someone they love, not because they don’t care any more but because they feel […]

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Young Widow Overcomes Her Death Wish

Posted on March 27, 2009 - by Michele Neff Hernandez

By Michele Neff Hernandez — It is an odd and frightening sensation to wish you were dead.  After my husband died, I fervently wished I could die, too. The first time I read that grieving people sometimes fantasize about death, I was relieved. My entire life I had appreciated the gift of life; to suddenly and frequently wish it away was a disconcerting and lonely experience. When my husband, Phil, was hit by a car, the initial shock provided a buffer to the complicated emotions that would gather to haunt me in the days and months to come. As the […]

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Deja Vu

Posted on March 26, 2009 - by Eric Tomei

Sometimes when you get that eerie feeling that something is just not right, they call it deja vu, which is French for “already seen.”   It was New Year’s Day 2008 and my buddy called me at around 11:00 in the morning.   Not necessarily unusual, but 11 in the morning on New Years Day triggered something in me that this wasn’t a Happy New Year 2008 call.   I should tell those voices to shut up sometimes, because I was right. When I listened to the message a few hours after, the message was not only shocking but devastating. […]

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Widow Feels Rage About ‘God’s Plan’

Posted on March 26, 2009 - by Gloria Lintermans

Question from Chris: I lost my husband, Fred, on 1/5/09 after 35 years and 35 days of marriage. I am still, almost 3 months later, so devastated. We have 3 sons and I have a job. So I can stay busy. But the nights and weekends are hell. I take care of my 80-year-old father who is on dialysis (my husband and I did this together for the past 8 years). I would tell my husband we will have time together after my father goes. Now I will be left alone with no one to comfort and console me. I […]

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