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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Jeffrey Berman: The Healing Power of Writing
February 14, 2013
After the death of his wife, Barbara, in 2004, Jeffrey Berman began teaching courses on Love and Loss at the University at Albany, State University of New York. He realized the importance of death education, particularly, the healing power of writing. His new book, Death Education in the Writing Classroom, is the first book to show how students can use the healing power of writing to cope with the deaths of loved ones. https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/audio.opentohope.com/2013/02/Jeffery-Berman.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Top 10 Spiritual Lessons I Learned in Grief
February 5, 2013
#10 I didn’t care what anyone thought about how I grieved: Grief made me go crazy for a while. I was selfish and self-centered. Thankfully, my family and friends supported me through and took care of my children until I came to my senses. #9 I prayed: I soon realized that I couldn’t do it on my own. I needed God’s help. (Sounds like a 12 step program!)In my prayers, I not only talked to God, but I learned how to listen to Him and heed His advice. #8 I had to rethink my priorities: Grief taught me what was […]
The Yin and Yang of Love after Spouse-Loss
February 2, 2013
Unbelievable as it seems, it has been four years since my husband passed away. Every year, from January 26th until February 19th, I go into a Bermuda triangle of memories and emotions – his birthday, the day of his death and our anniversary fall on these dates. You would think grief would have loosened its hold on me, but these meaningful days still haunt me. I loved my husband for 44 years (notwithstanding all the ups and downs of most marriages). Today, I am blessed to be in a committed and loving relationship with a wonderful man who has graced my […]
Carol Scibelli: Healing With Humor
January 31, 2013
https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/audio.opentohope.com/2013/01/01-Carol-Scebelli.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
The Porch: Goodbye to my Husband
January 28, 2013
How many lonely nights will I sit on this porch watching the river as the moonlight casts its eerie shadows? I wonder how far the river flows. Could I possibly toss my cares into the dark waters and have them swiftly carried downstream? No, that would be too easy, and I know this journey is to be the most difficult of my life. 2 a.m. – 3 a.m. – 4 a.m. I am still here – alone and afraid. Fear grips my heart and squeezes hard and long. I rub my chest to ease the pain. Because I have deserted […]
The Other Woman
January 17, 2013
One day just before Thanksgiving my husband informed me that he was in love with another woman, just what I wanted to hear when my days and nights for more than 18 months had been in devoted service to him. And then, with a little smile on his parched lips, he identified the “other woman”. Her name was Reva, an older, southern lady of great compassion. She was an aide for Hospice and visited every other day at first, then every day as the situation worsened. At first my husband rejected Reva’s offer to bathe him and wash his hair. […]
Room For Change: Reassembling Your Life
January 16, 2013
As time “slips” by in my healing from loss of spouse and I find my way to enter again into life, there seems to be more and more sliding from slide to side. I’m trying to find my footing on a path unexplored. It was easy being a mother, wife and co-creator of a family life. Two daughters, two cats, one dog and two parents under one roof. Consensus was not always the order of the day but we worked as a team, dreamed as a team and lived together for 23 years. When my husband died, the girls and […]
Beginning of Grief after Death of a Spouse
January 12, 2013
On May 22nd at 2:20 in the morning, my husband died. As I was sleeping in an armchair by his side in the hospital, his nurse gently woke me with the words, “He’s gone.” Reaching over, I put my hand on his arm, stunned by the coldness of his skin. As my world shattered into a million fragmented pieces, I softly sobbed, my head falling slowly until it rested next to his on his hospital bed. After a devastating battle of two and a half years, the ups and downs of fighting disease, his body had finally given out. The […]
Wedding Rings and Worldly Things
December 26, 2012
After I was widowed, I became part of a group of men and women who had each also suffered the loss of a spouse. We often got together and discussed our mutual struggles, from financial issues to decisions about when it was the right time to do certain things. What to do about wedding rings and when to do something with our spouses’ worldly possessions were topics that came up very often. And the one thing I discovered was that both of these concerns should be handled in a very individual way. I think it comes down to what you […]
