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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Poem: God’s Greatest Work of Art
October 7, 2009
If a picture is worth a thousand words And nothing worthwhile is ever lost Then what is the value of memories For those who paid the highest cost? When a parent loses a child Words become a useless tool There is nothing to be said to undo the hurt And feeble attempts are only cruel. A hug heart to heart in warm embrace Surpasses any useless phrase Shared tears and shared memories More healing than funeral sprays. A photograph is a moment in time And sometimes it can capture our soul A place we can find solace in memories To […]
Years After Son’s Suicide, Mother Lives in Peace and Joy
October 6, 2009
Sean died in the month of August. He was 16 years old, and he took his own life. He shot himself with his father’s hunting rifle. I never saw his body, but, in retrospect, I now know that it was for the best. I did not feel that way at the time. I begged to see him. My heart ached with an intense longing to touch him…just one last time. Those first months were a nightmare. Hell could not be worse! I do not recall our first Thanksgiving. As many memories as there are in my heart and mind, that first […]
News of Fathering Dead Infant Stirs Up Grief Thirty Years Later
October 5, 2009
By Monica Novak – A reader (I’ll call her Lori) wrote in one day to say that her husband had been contacted by a woman he had dated nearly 30 years earlier. She told him she had broken up with him because she had been pregnant. She went on to deliver a premature baby who died after only an hour. Lori wanted to understand why, after all this time, the woman was contacting her husband. He had known nothing of the pregnancy all these years and now felt a great loss. Here is my response to Lori: Dear Lori, I […]
Surviving the Holidays After a Loved One’s Death
October 5, 2009
That holiday-pang hit my stomach the first October after Daniel died. Greeting me at an arts and craft shop were gold and silver stockings, a Christmas tree draped with turquoise balls and a wreath of pinecones and red berries. What was this? And was “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” playing as well? It was only October. I had anticipated that Christmas and the holidays would be tough. In fact, I’d wake on those cold mornings after Daniel died in February and be grateful that it was still months until his August birthday and even more months until Christmas. I […]
Living in the NOW: Retaking Your Life After a Loved One’s Suicide
October 5, 2009
That Sunday morning that I found Adam’s body in the car in the garage was the worst day of my life. The horror that is suicide produces a grief that is like no other. It is not like the lingering death from cancer. In spite of the fact that death from a heart attack is sudden and life-wrenching, it is not like suicide. Suicide is like an insult. It is sudden, yes, but it is an optional act. In the minds of the survivors, it didn’t need to happen. It was a choice and for that matter, an irrational choice. But […]
Strength Survives Losing a Child
October 4, 2009
by Sandy Fox Is there anything good that comes from losing a child? At first all you feel is excruciating heartache, ever present loneliness, deep emptiness, the old life gone forever, the future a blur, the person you loved most in the world gone forever, and you…changed forever. Nothing is ever the same again. You are a different person. Days, months, years may pass and you cope as best you can. And then…out of the depth of grief and despair, grows something remarkable. You begin to see others in the same situation; some of them just moving on one day […]
‘Grief Buddies’ Can Help You Cope
October 4, 2009
Whether it was anticipated or sudden, the death of a loved one is a traumatic experience. Two and a half years ago, my daughter died from the injuries she received in a car crash. Death was even more shocking when my father-in-law died two days later. In fact, we were so overcome with shock we started a buddy system. We were driving buddies. Driving can be dangerous when you’re grieving. When we needed to go to the store, church, or social event, my husband and I always drove together. One of us was the driver and the other was the […]
Moving Through Grief on Foot
October 3, 2009
Grieving is a step-by-step journey. Some stretches of the road are rougher than others. But every step is important. Every step has its gifts.
October is the Time of Change
October 1, 2009
In my younger days, I thought I could control change. I learned, and not quickly I would add, that no one can control or stop change anymore than one can hold back the tides or halt the autumn leaves transforming from green to gold. This brings me to today’s topic of change and how to understand it and accept its daily invitation. First, change is inevitable. Think of those individuals you know who, despite painful adversity, have been able to go on even after their world changed and fell down around them. These individuals accept – sometimes hourly – the […]
