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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The Road Back To Happiness After Spouse-Loss
April 17, 2012
What if you woke up to discover that your happiness was completely gone? That happened to me one cold November morning. Sid, my husband and soul mate for almost thirty-eight years, had died suddenly in his sleep. I felt like my heart could not possibly go on beating without him. I remember lying alone in the dark that night, begging God to take me, too. But when the sun came up, I was still breathing. Even though I could barely function at the time, I knew deep in my shattered heart that somehow I would have to eventually figure out […]
Grief Can Cause Loss of Confidence; Spring Can Help it Rebound
April 9, 2012
All of us have it. But we can lose it temporarily. Yet, all of us have the power to find it again too. Confidence is the extra battery pack that fuels our inner spirit. It propels us to greater achievements and encourages us to walk through doors that we might otherwise avoid. We all need that extra boost when life challenges us. Walking in for our first job interview, we needed to make a good impression. Confidence gave us an edge. This positive inner force helped us to stand a little taller and to feel a little stronger. “Confidence comes […]
Grief and the Right Side of the Brain
April 7, 2012
We often approach grief from a logical perspective. We listen, analyze, validate obvious emotions, and try to arrive at helpful conclusions. However, grief is much more complicated than simply identifying a loss, categorizing the pain, and discovering fresh themes on moving forward. Pain and suffering contain multifaceted undercurrents that transcend conscious awareness. Research (e.g., Allan Schore, Daniel Siegel) suggests that we live daily from two sides of our brain, each equipped with its own method of storing and utilizing information. Taken into discussions on grief, the concept implies that we grieve from two sides of the brain as well, the […]
Writing It Forward After Husband’s Early Death
March 31, 2012
Thirteen years ago, I read a letter to an editor urging young widows to go for annual physicals. The timing of the piece reminded me of when I first read about the Heimlich Maneuver in 1974, just days after my grandfather choked to death on a bite of meat. My uncle had rushed to Grandpa’s aid, pounding on his back to dislodge the piece of meat – all to no avail. If he had known enough to wrap his arms just above Grandpa’s waist, and pull into his gut, the morsel would have popped out and my grandfather would have […]
After Loss of Husband, Woman Made the Best of a Bad Situation
March 25, 2012
“Kerie, get your butt out of the air.” “Kerie, enjoy what you’re doing at the time you are doing it.” These are the two sentences I heard most growing up. The first because I loved gymnastics and drove my father mad doing cartwheels and back-handsprings any time I found enough room on the ground. The second, because I would inevitably pout and roll my eyes after being forced to make the most out of the moment – regardless of being told I couldn’t do what I wanted to do. True story: My grandmother still tells of how she knew I […]
Adjusting to Widowhood
March 19, 2012
What I was about to do seemed as terrifying as if I were going to walk across a tight rope, suspended 100 feet into the air, with no safety net below, while wearing stilettos. It was only a month since my husband of 64 years had passed away. I was still reeling with grief and uncertainty when the opportunity came for me to buy our daughter, Gena’s, home. Even before my husband’s illness, I thought it wise to buy a home on the street where our two daughters lived so we could access their help, if needed. A suitable home […]
How to Maintain Relationships with Your In-Laws After Losing Your Spouse
March 18, 2012
My husband Mark passed away in his sleep unexpectedly from a heart condition we did not know he had. He was forty-nine years young. I was thirty-nine. Our two boys were three and five. It was without question the hardest day of our lives. And, it was the hardest day in other people’s lives as well. I’d known my husband for almost ten years when he died. His family had known him all of his forty-nine years. Many weeks later, I came out of the shock of losing my mate. I looked around at what had been ‘our’ life that was […]
Larry M. Barber, LPC-S, CT; Embracing Grief with Hope and Promise
March 15, 2012
Larry Barber’s wife Cindy and two year old daughter Katie died from injuries suffered in a traffic accident in 1993. As a widowed single parent he raised two surviving children, nine and twelve. Barber is a minister, a licensed professional counselor, director of GriefWorks and author of Love Never Dies: Embracing Grief with Hope and Promise. https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/audio.opentohope.com/2012/07/Larry-M.-Barber_01.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
7-Year-Old Creates Own Grief Ritual
March 8, 2012
My son was 7 years old when his biological father passed away from suicide. About a month after his dad’s death, I found Kaden very distressed, crying alone in his bedroom. I instantly bent down to his level, trying to get him to talk about what had him so upset. I was determined to fix whatever it was that had him so heartbroken. “Mom, first we had your birthday party (Dec 11), then Daddy disappeared (Dec 13), then Daddy died (Dec 16), then we had his funeral (Dec 20), then we had Christmas (Dec 25), then my birthday (Dec 28), […]
