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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How to Build Support After a Major Loss
May 8, 2025
How to Build Support After a Major Loss In this reflective account, the conversation centers on personal loss, the steady process of healing, and the search for meaning after overwhelming tragedies. The discussion highlights the journey of a survivor who has experienced multiple heartbreaking losses in a brief period. Through honest storytelling and creative expression, the guest shares how she has managed deep sorrow while still remaining open to hope. A Journey Marked by Sudden Loss The narrative begins with raw recollections of loss that reshaped a life. The guest, a school teacher and writer, recounts the devastating impact of […]
Patti Miliotis: Healing Families After a Death
May 8, 2025
Have you suffered parental alienation after a death? Join Dr’s Heidi Horsley and their guest Patti Miliotis bereaved parent for a look at her family’s journey toward healing. It is never too late to heal! Award Winning Photographer and Jewelry Designer. She Co-founded the nonprofit Alex’s Team Foundation and in 2016 joined Barbara Hopkinson in 2016, as part of A Butterfly’s Journey, focusing her camera’s eye on faces of resilience. https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/www.opentohope.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Patti-Miliotis-Healing-Families-After-a-Death.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Setting the Intention to Live Again
April 28, 2025
Setting the Intention to Live Again That cruel knock on the door was not my first introduction to grief, but it was, by far, the most brutal. My kind, compassionate, and very handsome 24-year-old son, my youngest of four wonderful children, had not come home that night. My mother’s heart was extremely worried. But that loud knock shook me to my core, and something deep inside of me knew what it was. It was 5:30 AM. My daughter, Vanessa, who followed me downstairs to the door, was the only one home as my husband was out of town on business. […]
Tara Storch The Gift of Organ Donation
April 24, 2025
Wondering how others have found meaning after sudden loss? Join Drs. Gloria and Heidi Horsley and hear how bereaved parent Tara Storch found meaning after the sudden death of her daughter, Taylor. Tara is the author of Taylor’s Gift and the co-founder with her husband of the Taylor Gift Foundation. https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/www.opentohope.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Tara-Storch-The-Gift-of-Organ-Donation.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Why the Death of a Child is Unique Among Losses
April 14, 2025
The Death of a Child is Unique When Ruby Cooper was 16 years old, she gave birth to twins, and she told this story as part of The Moth Radio Hour podcast, https://themoth.org/stories/giving-and-receiving. One baby died at birth and the other was a boy later diagnosed with cerebral palsy. In was 1960, and her son’s doctor recommended that Ruby place her son in an institution so that he could be “with his kind.” Ruby responded that she was his mother and thus “his kind,” and she would raise him herself. Overwhelmed with the responsibility of raising a son with special […]
Louise Strasenburgh Grief and Life Go Together
April 10, 2025
Wondering how you balance grief as life continues? Join Dr’s Gloria and Heidi Horsley and their guest Louise Strasenburgh. Learn how Louise survived the 2011 deaths of her 26 year old son and her mother only five weeks later and in between being present for her daughter’s wedding. Louise is a Certified Grief Recovery Specialist®, co-leader of The Compassionate Friends in Boston and the author of The Space In My Heart. https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/www.opentohope.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Louise-Strasenburgh_-Grief-and-Life-Go-Together.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
The Lessons of Grief
April 7, 2025
The Lessons of Grief Grief is ugly. It is raw, relentless, and merciless. It does not come gently or leave quietly. Grief stormed into my life like a natural disaster, shattering everything I once knew and leaving me with a version of myself I no longer recognize. It did not ask for permission and knew no boundaries. Grief is powerful and invades my entire body. It gives pain a new definition. Grief makes me cry until I am tearless and gasping to breathe. Until every muscle in my body aches from the sobbing, and I feel hollow. The emptiness it […]
Jeralyn Glass: The Transformative Power of Sound and Music
March 13, 2025
Join Dr’s Heidi and Gloria Horsley and Jeralyn Glass, internationally acclaimed singer, pioneering figure in the realm of Sound Healing, creator of The Source App. Following the tragic loss of her only son, Dylon; Jeralyn decided to write her book, Sacred Vibrations: The Transformative Power of Crystalline Sound and Music, as a guide to engaging Music as Medicine and how the power of sound can serve to transform us. https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/www.opentohope.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Jeralyn-Glass_-The-Transformative-Power-of-Sound-and-Music.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Father Pens 30th Birthday Message to Deceased Son
March 8, 2025
Message to Deceased Son My son, Michael, was born 30 years ago today. It would have been amazing to see what he would have looked like. I often dream about what he would be doing with his life. Married? Kids? Or… still living at home?!? Well, he is still at home. His stocking is on my fireplace at Christmas. His picture is on the mantle and in my home office. Michael is also at work, in my wallet, and on the internet. His rap CD, just recently created from old cassette tapes, is being heard by others for the first […]
