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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Love Isn’t Enough
December 15, 2025
Thanks mainly to the Beatles, I always thought that love was all you need. Love was the answer, I knew that for sure. As I’ve said many times and will continue to say, I’ve never loved anyone the way I loved my older son Rob and I never will. I’m sure you feel the same way about your child. That’s the deal when you become a parent—the amount of unconditional love you feel for your children is so enormous and overwhelming that you didn’t and couldn’t possibly have known that you had it in you to give. There’s […]
Grief and Aikido: Relaxing Under Pressure
December 5, 2025
“Heaven is right where you are standing, and that is the place to train.” — Morihei Ueshiba, founder of Aikido Grief is one of the deepest kinds of spiritual work we will ever do because it arises from the deepest parts of who we are. As we explore these depths, we discover one of the most fundamental human behaviors, which is the reflexive habit of turning away from pain. Everything in our mental, physical, and emotional DNA tells us to avoid discomfort at all costs. We are wired to seek pleasure and to avoid pain. But this habit to avoid […]
Finding Strength and Wisdom after the Loss of a Father
November 24, 2025
Losing a father is one of the hardest experiences in life. It’s a loss that reshapes you, leaving an emptiness that never truly fades. The pain is deep, and the absence is felt in the quiet moments—the advice left unsaid, the laughter no longer shared, the steady presence that once grounded you. But in that grief, there is also transformation. The loss teaches us how fleeting life is, reminding us to cherish every moment, to be present, and to live with purpose. It gives us a kind of wisdom that only comes through pain—a deeper understanding of what truly […]
The Silence After Goodbye: My Brother’s Suicide and the Gifts He Left Behind
November 21, 2025
Drastically, his mental state had deteriorated. Now I see it clearly: my brother was incredibly strong for holding on as long as he did. He carried the weight for over a decade, ever since I left him behind when I immigrated to Canada. Conditioned to live by abandoning his own needs and silencing his own dreams, he poured all his energy into everyone else. Facing my own suicidal thoughts became the heaviest burden of all. Only later did I learn from Dr. Alan Wolfelt’s The Wilderness of Suicide Grief: Survivors of suicide loss are at high risk themselves. It’s not just […]
Reclaiming the Appetite: Learning to Feed Myself Again
November 20, 2025
For a long time, my go-to stress mode was restriction. Not just with food, but with everything. When life felt uncertain, I’d tighten my grip. Shrink my schedule. Shrink my appetite. Shrink myself. It was a way of controlling what I could. A survival reflex from years of starving out my own needs while serving everyone else’s. The irony is that I built a life feeding others, yet often forgot to feed myself. Grief made that pattern louder. It’s strange how something can feel heavy and hollow at the same time. The weight of loss. The emptiness of absence. The […]
How to Face Milestone Dates After a Loss
November 15, 2025
As time progresses, new reasons to mourn may rap on your door. Birthdays, anniversaries, milestones, major holidays—even seemingly innocuous events may reignite sorrow. A veil of tears might distort your vision as your grandchild toddles around. If only my husband could see his latest grandchild learn to walk. Conversely, if your child died or went missing, the growth of other people’s kids might activate strong reactions. Consider revisiting this book then. It is also helpful to face significant dates with a ritual. According to Drs. Evan Imber-Black and Janine Roberts, “when healing rituals have not occurred, or have been […]
CHANGE: IT’S INEVITABLE
November 4, 2025
When we are children growing up, it usually never enters our mind that anything, or anybody in our lives will ever change. We envision our parents as being with us always. Our grandparents are a delight and we certainly can’t imagine our lives disconnected from them. Without a doubt, in our innocent thinking, we will sail into the beautiful sunset with all of our siblings. What a devastating wake-up call to find out that people die, that our lives forever change when the people we love the most go by way of the grave. When we lost extended and distant […]
More Than Just A Dream
November 3, 2025
We all dream, though some people say they don’t remember their dreams. Some dreams are pleasant, some are strange, and some are scary. Some are crystal clear, and some are so nebulous that it’s hard to even explain them in words. Some make you wonder what that dream was all about, or if there was any kind of message in there somewhere for you. But what if a dream of your loved one who has passed away is so clear and tangible that you could swear it was really them? I have heard about these kinds of dreams […]
Parts of You
November 1, 2025
One part of you knows that you must go on with your life, while another part doesn’t ever want to get out of bed. One part of you feels like you did everything possible to save your child, while another part takes you to task for not having done enough. One part of you believes that you were the best parent a child could ever have, while another part questions how you could possibly be the best parent when you failed to keep your child alive. One part of you accepts the reality of your loss, while another part […]
