Open to Hope Articles
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 3,000 articles written by our Open to Hope authors.
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Ask, Seek, and Knock Loudly on God’s Door
October 10, 2014
On the snowy night of December 30, 2012, I was reflecting on the past year in my journal. I have journaled regularly since 1990, when I lived in the bush in West Africa and had little else to occupy myself during the silent nights in my mud brick house. I wrestled for a while as to whom I was addressing my journal, but eventually I realized I was sharing my thoughts and fears with God. So, I have written thousands of “Dear Lord” entries over the years. Curled up in front of the fire after the kids were asleep, I […]
Elizabeth Heineman: Stillbirth
October 9, 2014
Elizabeth Heineman is mother of one stillborn and two surviving children. Her memoir of her stillbirth is Ghostbelly (Feminist Press, 2014). She is a professor at the University of Iowa, where she teaches courses on gender and sexuality, European and German history, and the history of human rights. https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/audio.opentohope.com/Elizabeth-Heineman.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
When an Adopted Daughter Takes her Own Life
October 7, 2014
We had a big fight with our 17-year-old daughter Casey that weekend in January, 2008 – yelling, crying, slamming doors, saying ugly things we didn’t really mean. A typical teenage power struggle. I left her in a puddle of tears in her room cursing me, practically counting the days until she went off to college that fall. She’d been accepted at Bennington College in Vermont and seemed to revel in the notion that she’d be free of us. I didn’t take it personally. Just another teen mouthing off at her parents, trying to get under their skin. We were actually […]
When a Pregnant Woman Commits Suicide
October 5, 2014
Abel Keogh, author of Room for Two, was recently interviewed with Dr. Gloria Horsley and Dr. Heidi Horsley about the Loss of his wife and child to suicide and premature birth. Below is the interview: G: Hello, I’m Dr. Gloria Horsley with my co-host H: Dr. Heidi Horsley. G: Each week Heidi and I welcome you to Healing the Grieving Heart, a show of hope and conversation with those who’ve suffered the loss of a loved one and for healthcare professionals who work in this most difficult field. As always the message is others have been there before you […]
An Artists View of Death, Steven Boone
October 2, 2014
Artist, photographer, traveler, and writer Steven Boone lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He lost his daughter to cancer when she was nineteen. His award-winning book, called “A Heart Traced in Sand” recalls his experiences with her living and dying. https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/audio.opentohope.com/Steven-Boone.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
As Seasons Change, So Does Grief
October 2, 2014
Grief is a very difficult passage to make. We hope when we are grief stricken that someday we will no longer grieve. The reality in grief is that we really don’t “get over” it; we learn instead to live with it. I lost my son to an opiate addiction in 2007. As you can imagine, it was a very difficult time in my life. As a mother, I did everything I could to keep him alive and happy. However, the day came in my life where parenting had to change. When my son became an adult, I had to let […]
Preparing for Winter Blues, Anniversary Reactions, and the Unwelcome Return of Grief
September 29, 2014
Fall has come to Minnesota. The trees are turning gold and orange and red. White-winged Juncos, birds in the sparrow family and harbingers of winter, have returned to the backyard feeders. Nights are colder, and there is frost on the lawn in the mornings. Much as I love fall, I’m always a bit uneasy because I know winter is coming. Living in this changeable climate requires preparation and courage. Winters can be beautiful. We usually have several ice storms that glaze the trees with ice and turn the town into a fairy land. Fierce wind chills, however, and temperatures of […]
Songwriter Helps Mother Let Son Go
September 25, 2014
Of all the songs I have ever been invited to compose, to assist with healing around a loss, the story of little 4-year-old Alex is the one that most deeply touched my heart. One day I got a call from Aimee, who had spent almost all of her family’s income on medical bills for her very ill little son Alex. When she called, asking me to compose a song for his memorial service (he had been given about a month to live), I somehow could feel in my bones that a month was more than we really had. No time, […]
Helping the Bereaved Parent Survive the ‘Season of Cheer’
September 23, 2014
Once you become a bereaved parent, events that you once looked forward to, you now dread. Everything from the start of the school year right through to Memorial Day is filled with memories that now evoke as much pain as laughter. For most of us, however, it is that period of time between Thanksgiving and the New Year, the so-called “season of cheer,” with its emphasis on families, that overwhelms us. We sigh and we wonder, “How will I get through this?” Something that is very healing is to take the emphasis off yourself and merge with others who stand […]
