The Open to Hope Community

The Open to Hope Community Leader is here to answer questions, provide support, and maintain a healthy, positive environment at opentohope.com. This is the next line.

Articles:

Should Daughter Protect Elderly Father From Bad Woman?

Karen writes in with a question: Our mother passed away two years ago, and we have recently found out that our dad is dating again. My brothers and I do have an issue with him dating, but we have an issue with the character of person choice to date. How should my brothers and I handle our senior citizen father dating an acquaintance of his son’s that the entire family knows is a drug addict and a prostitute? Dr. Gloria Horsley, founder of Open to Hope, responds: Dear Karen, First let me say how sorry I am to hear of […]

When a Loved One Uses Drugs to Deal With Grief

Glenna writes in: How do I help my partner with the loss of his dad? This happened back in January, and now my partner needs drugs to help with the pain. Someone, please help! Pamela Gabbay, M.A., FT, responds: Dear Glenna, I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your partner’s dad. When a parent dies, it is so painful, and the range of emotions that one experiences can be overwhelming. January wasn’t that long ago and it’s no surprise that your partner is feeling a lot of pain. For many grievers, the intense pain doesn’t subside during the first […]

7 Mistakes of Mourners

by Lou LaGrand Everyone makes mistakes or fails in their attempts to grow and meet the challenges of daily life. Without these miscues little would be learned and growth as a person would be limited. In short, failure is a key ingredient for success and should be looked at as a resource for moving forward, not a behavior to be despised. There is one exception to the above observation: when someone makes a mistake, refuses to learn from it, and keeps repeating the same error expecting positive change to occur. This easily happens in the emotional turmoil of mourning the […]

Memorial Tribute with Windchimes

by Rachel Betzen When we remember loved ones lost and the family and friends most affected, a special memorial can help us honor their lives and soothe the pain of that loss. Memorials for a loved one may include many aspects, but they all have something special that remind us of the person lost. Personalizing a memento allows us to take that special memory and engrave it into something tangible. When a special memorial engraving is placed beneath a finely crafted wind chime, both the imagery and sounds of the instrument make it a powerful symbol of remembrance. For those […]

Growing After Mistakes

Effective Techniques to Deal with Grief

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 […]

When Life Happens…Hints for Surviving Traumatic Loss

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 […]

Lessons Learned in Grief Loss

by Risa Mason-Cohen English actress Natasha Richardson was only 45 when she suffered a devastating brain injury resulting from what appeared to be a minor fall during a beginners ski lesson, leaving behind a husband and two sons. A client of mine lost her closest lifelong friend to a drunken driving accident only seconds after they said goodnight at a mutual friend’s house party. A man in North Charleston woke suddenly to the smell of smoke and was forced to throw his beloved dog from a third floor apartment building in the hope of saving the animal’s life. A woman […]

Man Alive for Nearly 40 Years With Donated Organs

By Ken Trachy In 1972, suffering from end-stage kidney failure, I received a kidney transplant at the University of Minnesota. This had followed two years of debilitating disease and feelings of desperation and hopelessness. After learning of my diagnosis, my father said to a friend of mine, “Kenny won’t live to see 30.” Disconsolate, I urged the woman with whom I had shared a three-year relationship to marry me, thinking it would be preferable she be left a widow rather than a girlfriend. It was the paralyzing fear of death that was pervasive in my life, and that preoccupied all […]

Symptoms of Bereavement Stress

by Margo Bastos Bereavement and loss will come to all of us at some time in our lives. Many people are losing jobs, homes and other securities in today’s world. It really helps us to cope with bereavement if we are able to recognise the feelings as being normal in the circumstances. 9 Symptoms of Bereavement Stress Lack of Sleep or Interrupted Sleep You lie awake for hours and are not able to fall asleep OR you wake up regularly during the night. Maybe you wake up in the early hours of the morning and are not able to go […]

Open to Hope is an online community offering inspirational stories of loss, hope and recovery. We believe hope is the bridge between loss and recovery.