Open to Hope Articles

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Poem: I Always Used to Love April

Posted on June 2, 2008 - by admin

I Used to Always Love April
???????????????????????? By Kim Hodne

I used to always love April
The month you were born
You loved it too
The fifth day is special in my heartBut now it brings a special sorrow
You?d be turning twenty-nine
I lost you at twenty -four
So young
I would love to meet you half way
Somewhere between Heaven and Earth
Just […]

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Growing Through the Anger of Grief and Loss

Posted on June 1, 2008 - by admin

Anger is one of the most common emotions that surfaces when grief and loss have to be confronted. It is a normal human response if you feel abandoned, betrayed, disrespected or undeserving of the experience you are facing. It tells us we have to do something.
If you have been taught early in life that anger […]

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How to Live with Family Members Without Hating Each Other

Posted on June 1, 2008 - by Carol O'Dell

Face it, times are tough.
Can you afford to stay in your own home? Are you well enough to manage everything on your own?
Are you recently widowed and wonder if living by yourself is such a good idea?
Are you a boomer or sandwich generationer wondering how to care for/pay for your kids, your parents and save […]

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Do You Need to be Needed?

Posted on May 29, 2008 - by Carol O'Dell

Do you need to be needed?
Carl Jung called it, “The Wounded Healer.”
Caregivers, whether they come by it willingly or are drug into their caregivingroles, become accustomed to being needed. It’s comforting? and satisfying to know that you have a purpose.
But what do you mean when you say, “wounded healer?” ?Is that a bad thing?
Wounded healer […]

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Grief and Self Care

Posted on May 29, 2008 - by Ellen Besso

Note: Often we encourage you to “be gentle” with yourselves when you are grieving. In the whirlwind of emotions we are experiencing on the grief path, we sometimes just can’t fathom what that means to us. Ellen Besso has given us some clear guidlines on how we can take care of ourselves?during this harsh journey.?Drs. […]

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For Memorial Day

Posted on May 26, 2008 - by admin

I would like to share a fond Memorial Day memory of my deceased mother, Phyllis Jensen.? Mother was a member of the Civic Improvement Club in our small town.? One of her duties was to wire red cellophane poppies on to the white crosses which marked the graves of veterans in our local cemetery.? Faithfully […]

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Poem: I Think of You

Posted on May 25, 2008 - by admin

I Think of You
????????? By Catherine Punton Wilson
I think of you and start to cry,
It breaks my heart that you had to die.
Your final days were filled with even greater pain,
Each day was a struggle, each night a torment
But never did you complain.
Only did you say ” Mom, I want my Normal Life Back”
As the […]

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Struggling with Death of Son-in-Law

Posted on May 24, 2008 - by admin

I was wondering if someone out there could help me to understand or help my daughter (Jacquie). My son-in-law Clinton passed away from melanoma cancer in June of 2006. They together had 3 children and were very much in love with each other. Clinton was 36 years old and a very wonderful husband, father and […]

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Forgive for Good: The Four Stages of Forgiveness

Posted on May 21, 2008 - by Fred Luskin

Writer Frederic Luskin believes we can make the choice to forgive — and to take offense in the first place

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Poem: My Third Child is Grief

Posted on May 21, 2008 - by admin

My Third Child Is Grief
??????????? By Sandra Priebe
It?s been three years since my husband suddenly left this earth in the middle of the night.
Jack and I had two children, they are growing and maturing beyond our hopes and dreams.
I?m kept busy guiding and participating in their lives but something else was going on interfering, interrupting […]

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