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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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Advice for Those Who Have Lost a Parent

Posted on August 8, 2021 - by Harry Barry

It is important to recognize that each one us loses a “different” parent. This explains the variety of grief reactions in a family. Thus, it’s difficult to give universal advice for those who have lost a parent. Each child and adult will have a different relationship with their mother and father. This relationship, in turn, will depend on the individual personality of both parents and child, their place in the family, whether they are closer to one or other parent, and especially what memories have been built up about that parent. Love and Closeness are Not the Same It is […]

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Dealing with Guilt While Grieving

Posted on July 18, 2021 - by Peggy Bell

The road of grief is paved with many emotions. You can experience denial, shock, anger, fear, depression, and bargaining and guilt. You may not feel all of them, but one emotion many experience is the feeling of guilt. You may find that guilt while grieving comes at different stages of your process. Early Stage of Guilt While Grieving When you first lose your spouse, you may feel guilty about the fact that you are still here but your husband is not. You wonder how is that fair and sometimes even wish you had gone instead of him. So how do […]

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When Your Child Dies By Suicide

Posted on July 18, 2021 - by Harry Barry

This excerpt about when a child dies by suicide is from of Emotional Healing (Pegasus), by Dr. Harry Barry. Purchase it on Amazon. When a Child Dies by Suicide Those left behind in the wake of a suicide are sometimes called “suicide survivors”. This confusing term suggests that the person survived the attempt but in practice relates to the person or persons left behind following their death. It is no coincidence that the term survivor is used here as a description, for “survival” is the best that most parents can aim for, in the months and years that follow losing […]

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Helping a Widower After the Loss

Posted on July 18, 2021 - by Fred Colby

This article on helping a widower is excerpted from Widower to Widower, by Fred Colby. Purchase it on Amazon. Advice on Helping a Widower This portion of the book is meant for those of you who want to better understand or help someone who is about to or has recently lost his wife. Unless you are an experienced grief counselor, don’t give into your natural urges and start giving advice on how he should deal with his wife’s death. I found that others helped by letting me find my own solutions in my own way. Some helped me most by […]

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10 Ways for Coping with Grief Sadness

Posted on July 18, 2021 - by Harry Barry

This excerpt on coping with grief sadness is from Emotional Healing (Pegasus), by Fred Colby. Purchase it on Amazon. Coping with Grief Sadness How many of you reading this have found your heart torn into pieces, your emotional world exploded? No matter what words of comfort are offered by a friend or professional or therapist, there are no shortcuts to coping with “grief sadness”. There can be little doubt that the sadness that you may experience may on occasion bring you to your knees. My message of hope, however, is that over time, and with the assistance of this book, […]

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Healing Grief Through Nature

Posted on July 18, 2021 - by Michelle Kaisersatt

The Cancer Diagnosis At thirty wonderful years of marriage, my husband and I were revisiting the honeymoon stage. Kids enjoying their own adult lives, and us looking forward to adventures on the road – riding motorcycles and camping around the country. Then “Stage 4 Colon Cancer” was spoken. I am not the first in the world to deal with the emotional rollercoaster ride one experiences when a loved one is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. We put on our “Super Warrior” shield,  celebrating the ups, and standing strong and positive in the downs, while capping our own emotions. Not long […]

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Suicide Sucks

Posted on July 9, 2021 - by Jenny Landon

Funeral After a Suicide April 29, 2016— Minneapolis, MN After what had been a week of gray, rainy, cold days, it felt amazing to feel the sunshine again. It should have been a day to rejoice, to be outside listening to the children play on the nearby playground; and yet I found myself sitting in a chapel staring down at a picture of what appeared to be a happy man. Suicide sucks. I looked at his picture and felt the pain his family must be feeling as we prepared to say our final goodbyes to him. He was a son, […]

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Grieving During a Pandemic

Posted on July 9, 2021 - by Harry Barry

How does one go about grieving during a pandemic? The Covid pandemic has destroyed the fabric of our personal, social, working and community lives. So many lives have been lost. So many families left devastated with the loss of loved ones, whether parents, grandparents, siblings, even on occasion children. Over 600,000 lives in USA alone have been taken by this cruel, uncaring virus. No country has been left untouched by Covid, including my own beloved Ireland. So much grief, pain and emotional scarring left in its wake. Not to mention the countless others who died during this pandemic from other […]

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From Married to Widowed: Can You Know How I Feel?

Posted on June 14, 2021 - by Gary Sturgis

From Married to Widowed Shortly after the death of my spouse, I was filling out a form at the bank. One of the questions was what my “status” was. In the past the answer was “married,” but now I was being asked to check the “widowed” box. I could not bring myself to check the “single” box because in my heart I had not yet gone from married to widowed. So, I did what any normal griever would do in that situation: I started to cry. The teller asked me if I was okay. Did I need anything? The response […]

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‘Why Me?’: Surviving Partner Loss

Posted on June 14, 2021 - by Gary Sturgis

Daily Reminder of Surviving Partner Loss   I was at the post office picking up the mail a couple of weeks after my loss. It was always such a painful experience since Rob was dead but continuing to get mail. Each envelope and package addressed to him was a gentle reminder of my loss.   An elderly neighbor came in and told me how sorry she was for my loss. She said, “Don’t worry about it. You’re young. You’ll meet someone else.” At the time I was still so raw in my grief and could not imagine such a thing […]

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