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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Mourning Mother
November 25, 2014
Exactly a month after my mother’s death, I’ve boarded a plane for Toronto, Canada to train with the cancer center there in their protocol, CALM (Managing Cancer and Living Meaningfully). It’s hard to leave home right now. I stick close to my wife and become easily overcome by the many details of living. On the other hand, I’m going somewhere that my grief will be, I assume, accepted, and where I will have space to appreciate that my mother died prepared, facing death squarely with her eyes open, just as this program teaches us to facilitate. What a gift she […]
Dr. David Fajgenbaum: Support Network For Grieving College Students
November 20, 2014
While a student at Georgetown University, David Fajgenbaum, MD, MSc founded Students of National Students of AMF Support Network, a peer-led grief support group and service program, in memory of his mother, Anne Marie Fajgenbaum. Dispite health challenges David carries on with his work and is currently an MBA Candidate at The Wharton School of Business. https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/audio.opentohope.com/David-Fajgenbaum.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Activities to help Children Process Grief: Interview with Dr. Natalie Carlos
November 15, 2014
At the annual ADEC (Association of Death Education and Counseling), I spoke with Dr. Natalie Carlos, who works in the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, about her work with children and grief. Natalie got into this field after being motivated and inspired by her own personal experience. Natalie’s mom died after a two-year battle with cancer when Natalie was just nine years old. After that, Natalie realized how long and difficult the process of grieving is. That motivated her to go into the field of psychology and work with others who are grieving or going through a traumatic event like […]
Rebecca Soffer: Modern Loss Coping with Grief in a Digital World
October 30, 2014
Rebecca Soffer is the co-founder of Modern Loss a website geared to young adults addressing the many permutations of loss, from miscarriages to a parent’s death. Ms. Soffer lost both her parents, her mother to an automobile accident and her father to a heart attack. https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/audio.opentohope.com/Rebecca-Soffer.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Jill Smolowe: Resilience In A Time of Grief
October 16, 2014
Within 17 months award-winning journalist and author Jill Smolowe lost her husband, sister, and mother. Jill, a senior writer for People, desiring to help others, used her experience to write Four Funerals and a Wedding: Resilience In A Time Of Grief. Jill then became a grief and transition coach helping clients learn how to restore momentum to their lives. https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/audio.opentohope.com/Jill-Semolowe.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
The Ruby Connection
September 26, 2014
My mother died 2 months after she turned 48. Her boyfriend was suspected in her death, but he was never charged. This left me with no answers, no closure, and no mother. I think this emotional “lostness” created a need for connections to her that I may not have experienced otherwise, at least not at the same intensity. I clung to everything – her clothes, her books, and anything with her handwriting on it. That same circling script that signed my elementary school permission slips became a touchstone for me as an adult, reminding me of days spent in her […]
Using the Pen to Return from Grief
August 29, 2014
Since my dad’s passing in April of 2012, I’ve learned there are many, varied, and sometimes unusual, ways people find to support their grief and integrate the inescapable reality of loss. No single process is best for everyone. For my own acceptance and eventual comfort, I turned to the pen. His death was not unexpected. Stage IV cancer was diagnosed more than three years before Daddy died. Nor was the moment of his passing a sudden or traumatic occurrence. He died peacefully holding my hand. Nonetheless, I was traumatized, as I believe all who lose loved ones are, by his […]
Accepting a New Life After a Multiple Loss
August 19, 2014
When I was only thirty-three years old, suddenly one day I felt my life was over and my only future was my past. Up until then, my life seemed magical, full of much love and happiness. Everything had been going according to plan. My husband Bart and I had just finished building our house in Idaho, where we wanted to raise our two boys, six-year-old Benjamin and four-year-old Samuel, through their high school years. We were preparing to set off on an adventure of a lifetime, to live in Avezzano, Italy, for one to two years while Bart worked there. […]
The Chauffeur’s Flower: Memories of an Early Loss
July 26, 2014
The day of my father’s funeral stands out in my mind. I remember blue sky and sunshine. It was six days after my eleventh birthday. At the end of the day, the chauffeur from the limousine handed me a carnation he had been wearing. I took it home, pressed it and always remembered the kindness of that moment in the midst of a big feeling of emptiness. My dad had been sick for a while. In fact, the Christmas before this July day, my mother announced “this would be Daddy’s last Christmas.” But that is a story for another time. […]
