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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Marie Crews: Rising Through Grief: Finding Meaning, Voice, and Growth
March 12, 2026
Struggling with grief? Join Drs. Gloria and Heidi Horsley as they speak with Marie Crews—bereaved mother, coach, and author—about finding growth after loss. Marie created The Nautilus Way: Write Your Way Free, a process for emotional breakthroughs, and wrote the best-selling Even When… She Rose. https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/www.opentohope.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Marie-Crews_-Rising-Through-Grief-Finding-Meaning-Voice-and-Growth.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
What Are Our Choices? A Personal Story By Susan Whitmore, Founder and CEO, griefHaven
March 10, 2026
How do we handle the road stretching before us when we are grieving? Erika, my daughter and only child, died at 32 in 2002 from a rare sinus cancer. A year later, with the love and support of many people, I started griefHaven. Before Erika died, time felt like a friend. After, it became my tormentor—each day dragging on, the months ahead looking like endless miles to endure without her. When I imagined the future, it no longer held the excitement of possibility. It felt like a long, empty road. Heartbreak hits like a sudden tsunami. It leaves us gasping, […]
A Day in the Life . . .If You Can Still Call It That
February 1, 2026
You wake up in the morning and for the first few hazy seconds, you think maybe it was all a bad dream. As soon as you get out of bed, a tidal wave of grief knocks you down, bringing you to your knees, and you immediately start to cry. You can’t stop crying. This is the beginning of the end of your life as you knew it—grieving your child who is no longer alive. Whether it was a long goodbye, a short goodbye, or no goodbye, you want the pain to stop but you don’t think it ever will. […]
Terrible, Thanks for Asking: What I’ve Learned About Grief
January 24, 2026
I’ve never loved anyone the way I loved Rob. Six years ago, I joined the world’s worst club when my older son shot and killed himself. He was 28. Rob suffered from depression, bipolar disorder, and alcoholism. After he died, it was my turn to find out what suffering really means. After he died, it was my turn to find out what suffering really means. In the first few weeks and months, I was gutted and in shock. So were my ex-wife, Caryn and my younger son, Zach. Our family had been destroyed. The whole thing seemed surreal—time was out […]
New Year, Old Grief: Now What?
January 20, 2026
Another New Year’s celebration has come and gone. For me, the reality of another year my daughter didn’t live to see is a painful one. Even many years after her death. Whether your grief is fresh or seasoned, New Year’s celebration and traditions of new beginnings in the form of yearly resolutions can be extremely painful. I often describe it as a “slap in the face” reminder that the world has moved on without my daughter—while I still think of her and miss her every day. It all started in September 2009, when my 4-year-old daughter died in a sudden, […]
We Are Extraordinary Parents
January 5, 2026
I’ve always found it strange that there’s no word for a parent who loses a child. Why do widows, widowers, and orphans get to have all the fun? I think it’s time for someone to right this wrong. Bear with me for a moment as I reaffirm what you already know: children aren’t supposed to die before their parents. That’s just not the way life should work. We give birth to children or adopt them, we love and nurture them, we raise them, they grow up, we grow old, and then we die. The circle of life, sunrise, sunset, […]
Ian McCartor: Carrying Their Memory Forward
December 25, 2025
Looking for a creative way to remember a loved one? Join Drs. Gloria and Heidi Horsley with guest Ian McCartor, hospice nurse and certified grief counselor, as they discuss creative and counseling approaches to remembering loved ones through The Ash Rose Foundation, a nonprofit supporting grief management. https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/www.opentohope.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Ian-McCartor_-Carrying-Their-Memory-Forward.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Never Forget Andrew
December 23, 2025
Perry started writing after the sudden loss of his son, Andrew. This book is a compilation of the writings about his personal experiences after the loss. They are about his son and other topics that have resonated with his family, friends and many followers. This book is a resource to help bereaved parents and those who care for them, to understand and deal with the loss of their children. The profits from this book will be returned to the community. Either through Andrew’s Foundation supplying sporting equipment to those who can not afford the equipment, through supporting Bereavement groups and […]
Mourners Pass
December 23, 2025
It is the holiday season, and in those first year or two, the pain of not having my son home for the holidays was overwhelming. What hurt most was his absence—no longer buying him his eight Chanukah gifts, not watching him light his menorah alongside his sister’s, and alongside the family menorah that my wife and I light together. Going to my in-laws’ home on Christmas was just as difficult, seeing gifts under the tree for everyone except him. Simply knowing he was not there was emotionally draining for us, year after year. Over the years, this particular pain has eased little […]
