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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‘I Want My Dad to Walk Me Down the Aisle’

May 14, 2025

When Your Father Dies Have you ever wondered why the good die young? I think about that all the time. It was a perfect Saturday. The couple went to the Bronx, walked around laughing and reminiscing. They went home watched a movie with their kids, but he couldn’t fall asleep. His chest was hurting, he didn’t feel well. Suddenly, he wasn’t breathing. That great man was my dad. How could a perfectly healthy man just suddenly not be there when you get home from school? The thought of what happened that night is always in my head. I wonder if […]

Using Linking Objects on Mother’s Day

May 11, 2025

“I’ve come to see the flag,” she declared. The flag waved outside a rehabilitation floor window. The woman parked her walker, sat down, and peered at the flag. “Look at that!” she exclaimed. “The flag is straight out.” Her husband served in the navy, she shared, and the flag reminded her of him. She came to see the flag many times, an object that linked her with her beloved husband, the man she loved and missed and admired so much. Objects that Link You Mother’s Day is coming, and if your mother has died, you may want to find items […]

Embracing Mother’s Day without Mom

May 11, 2025

Embracing Mother’s Day without Mom Losing my mother is one of the hardest things I have gone through. I still remember that day like it was yesterday. That day, I lost the person who was my support, friend, mentor, and confidant. She was my mom, a strong, brave, and ambitious woman. I know that my strength and resilience are largely because of her. Her being such an amazing role model gave me the tools to overcome many challenges in my own life. For obvious reasons, since her loss, Mother’s Day has not been the same. The grief and challenges that […]

Death, Advanced Directives, and Dad Jokes

April 28, 2025

Death, Advanced Directives, and Dad Jokes It was the best conversation we never wanted to have. I filled out an Advanced Directive with my dad. And it was fun! I had asked family members to fill out Advanced Directives a few times before. I know feelings about your mortality change and, thus, your view of care shifts. And they needed an update. I decided to complete an Advanced Directive, the Five Wishes Document, for myself before asking my dad to complete his. I am not sure that was the right decision. Often, my dad would ask me what I chose […]

Lindsey Whissel Fenton: Self Compassion

April 17, 2025

Having feelings of regret that you weren’t there when your loved one died? Join Dr’s Gloria and Heidi Horsley and their guest Lindsey Whissel Fenton, bereaved daughter, Emmy award-winning filmmaker, international speaker, outreach strategist, learning designer, and grief educator. She is the creator of the Speaking Grief Documentary and its sister-initiative, Learning Grief. https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/www.opentohope.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Lindsey-Whisse_l-Fenton-Self-Compassion.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Lingering Guilt about my Father’s Death

March 9, 2025

Lingering Guilt about my Father’s Death On January 11, 2003, I sat on my father’s bed chatting with him at the Mercer Island Care Center. At age 80, he was attempting to recover from a bout of pneumonia. At around 9:30 pm, I kissed him good-bye, got up from the bed and said I’d see him tomorrow. I can still see him lying in the bed, waving to me, both of us feeling assured that we would indeed be together tomorrow. At 6:30 am the next day, I received a call from the nurse saying that he was having a […]

Daughter Feels Little Support for Mother-Loss

March 5, 2025

Question on Feeling Little Support for Mother-Loss Question: I tearfully happened upon your website by chance this morning. My dearest friend, my mom, died in my arms this past month. I had brought her here to live with me after her colon cancer returned. From the moment of diagnosis, I watched her hurt and endure so much treatment, never giving up, always smiling, always gentle, humble. Since she died, I’ve received very little support from my husband or anyone else. I joined an online grief group, but I do not feel as if I belong there. My friends have faded […]

Where Do I Belong Now? After Both Parents Die

February 28, 2025

After Both Parents Die Dad died suddenly in my early fifties. At the funeral, I will never forget the feeling of being 6 years old in a 50-something-year-old body. Mom died just a few short years later; I was strong until the end with her as she battled breast cancer. My years in hospice made me acutely aware of how quickly she would be leaving us. At her funeral the same feeling took over; as the pall bearers walked past me with my mother, I became a child inside. A lady once said to me many, many years ago, I […]

Melissa Red Hoffman: Meaning Making After Traumatic Loss

February 27, 2025

Are you feeling alone after a traumatic loss? Join Dr’s Gloria and Heidi Horsley and their guest Melissa Red Hoffman, MD. Red is an acute care surgeon at Mission Hospital Asheville, NC and one of only 90 US surgeons board-certified in Hospice and Palliative Care. On this show she shares with us how she found meaning and hope after surviving two multiple violent deaths including the murder of her father and the suicide of her boyfriend. She is a podcaster, writer, researcher and leader in the field of Palliative Care. Be sure to catch her TED Talk. https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/www.opentohope.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Melissa-Red-Hoffman_-Meaning-Making-After-Traumatic-Loss.mp3Podcast: Play in […]