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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Dr. Kay Fowler: Adult Sibling Loss
March 6, 2016
Adult sibling loss is a common disenfranchised loss. Dr. Heidi Horsley interviews Dr. Kay Fowler at an Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) conference. Dr. Fowler is the editor of the ADEC Forum, and she lost three adult sisters in a 15 year period. The deaths of Jenny, Ann, and Mary Grace have largely impacted Dr. Fowler’s life and work. Mary Grace died of a heart attack at 44, and Dr. Fowler just couldn’t process it. There was no language or way to make sense of the situation. She felt invisible, with all the focus on her mother and […]
Bridget Park: Teens and Sibling Loss
March 1, 2016
The Executive Director of the Open to Hope Foundation, Dr. Heidi Horsley, talks to Bridget Park about losing a brother. Sibling loss is often a disenfranchised one. Park recommends leaning on your family and letting others love you and just be there for you. It’s tempting to push people away because you don’t want them to feel sorry for you. Being there for one another is critical. Parents worry when a teen doesn’t talk after losing their sibling. Parents think teens should talk, but Park says in her experience she was trying not to upset her parents. They don’t want […]
Celebration of Sisters: Full Circle After 30 Years
February 13, 2016
Celebration of Sisters, an annual ice skating fundraiser to honor and commemorate the lives and memories of my sisters Jane E. Lipson and Marjorie E. Lipson to benefit The John D. Stoeckle Center for Primary Care Innovation at Massachusetts General Hospital. Ice skating is my passion, solace, peace, and where I have come full circle in my grief to remember and pay tribute to my sisters. I lost my beloved sister Jane at age 22 in an automobile accident in 1981, and my beloved sister Margie at age 35 in 1990 after a 20-year battle with anorexia and bulimia. My […]
Remembering My Sibling and Child: Mitch Carmody
February 4, 2016
Mitch Carmody is no stranger to loss. His father died when he was 12yearsold. His twin sister, Sandy died at thirty-five followed three months later by his 9yearold son, Kelly. Despite this adversity Mitch has gone on to become a grief expert and is a much loved and sought after inspirational speaker. He is the author of L etters to My Son: Turning Loss into Legacy. https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/audio.opentohope.com/Mitch-Carmody_04.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Episode 60: Traumatic Sibling Loss: Finding Hope Again
December 14, 2015
On this show Dr. Gloria Horsley and co-host Alan Pedersen, Executive Director of The Compassionate Friends, interview two guests regarding coping with grief after a traumatic sibling loss. The first guest is Megan MacFarland, sister of Staff Sgt.Marc Small, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2009. The second guest is Zander Sprague, whose sister was murdered in 1996. Zander is the author of Making Lemonade: Choosing a Positive Pathway After Losing a Sibling. Inspired by their loses both Megan and Zander have gone on to develop careers helping others. Zander by getting a degree in counseling and Megan in occupational […]
Photographs Help Sister Heal After Sibling Losses
November 8, 2015
There is an expression originating from a Chinese proverb: “One picture is worth ten thousand words.” My vote is that one picture or video is worth ten thousand memories. When I lost my beloved sisters, Margie and Jane, I scrambled to find pictures to compose a collage, to place my beloved sisters’ images into frames. I feared I might forget them. Now, after 30 years, I went through that exercise again, designating a photo album for each sister and one album for collective photos, to capture chronologically the lives of my beloved sisters. I am desperately seeking some lost memories. When […]
Jennifer Collins Taylor: Conversations About Death
November 7, 2015
Dr. Heidi Horsley of the Open to Hope Foundation interviews Jennifer Collins Taylor on behalf of the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) organization. Taylor is the founder of Living Life, Dying Death, an author, and a speaker specializing in how to have meaningful and healthy conversations about death, dying, and grieving. She lost her brother 31 years ago, and that was the catalyst for pursuing a career in death and dying. “Who am I now that he’s not here on this planet?” she asks. She watched her family grieve and the ensuing fallout. Figuring out what life and […]
Sibling Bereavement
October 30, 2015
Dr. Heidi Horsley interviews Dr. Betty Davies, a professor and senior scholar at the University of Victoria’s School of Nursing. Also a professor emeritus at the University of California, San Francisco, Dr. Davies wrote Shadows in the Sun: The Experiences of Sibling Bereavement in Childhood for her students, those who have lost a sibling themselves, or anyone in the bereavement field. A leader in the field of sibling bereavement, Dr. Davies says she thinks of this type of bereavement as happening in a larger context. Look at the bereaved child in the context of his school, family, community, culture, and […]
Episode 55: Sibling Bereavement: Supporting Domestic Partners
October 27, 2015
On this show Dr. Gloria Horsley and Dr. Heidi Horsley interview, domestic partners, David Oldroyd, a leading interior designer, and Ronnie Genotti, an artist and Director of Servo Marketing and Design, regarding the death of David’s brother, Robert. Hal Bromm, owner of Hal Bromm Gallery, and Doneley Meris, executive director at HIV Arts Network, join David and Ronnie to talk about how deaths of family and friends have impacted them as domestic partners.
