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 Am I Doing? Look at My Toes
April 11, 2011
Don’t judge me when I say this … but I could easily get addicted to pedicures. Now, for you men who are reading this, this is not just a girl thing. Any guy who has had a pedicure before will tell you he’ll be back for more. And any woman will tell you, we wish you would get them more often. That sound of Velcro as your heels hit the sheets is not as endearing as you might think. Before my husband died, I had had one pedicure in my entire life. I am usually not embarrassed to say that […]
Barbara Roberts; Death of a Spouse
April 7, 2011
Barbara Roberts is an active public speaker on issues on death and dying. She openly discusses what she learned during the final year of her husband, Frank’s life and how she coped during the subsequent years of grieving. She is the former Governor of Oregon and author of Death Without Denial Grief Without Apology. https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/www.opentohope.com/files/2011/03/Barbara-Roberts_01.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Room For Change After a Spouse-Loss
April 7, 2011
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 side 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 possible, but we worked as a team, dreamed as a team and lived together for 23 years. When my husband died, the girls and I felt unstable […]
Life Without Lisa
March 24, 2011
Richard Ballo’s book, Life Without Lisa, is available at Amazon.com.
Norine Dresser; The Journey Through Grief
March 24, 2011
Norine Dresser’s husband died in 2007, after a year in home hospice care with Norine as the primary caregiver. The roller-coaster ride of emotions for the entire family as they faced end of life issues became the stimulus for her book Saying Goodbye To Someone You Love: Your Emotional Journey Through End of Life and Grief by Norine Dresser and Fredda Wasserman. New York: DemosHEALTH, 2010. https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/audio.opentohope.com/2011/02/OTH_Norine-Dresser_12_06_10_23.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
What Doesn’t Kill Me…Makes Me Surrender
March 24, 2011
In the years since my husband died, many times I have heard the phrase: “What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.” I’ve been thinking about that lately and am not sure if I agree. There are so many different endings I could add to the phrase that would fit better for me…what doesn’t kill you…only nearly kills you…or what doesn’t kill you…you wish would kill you…or what doesn’t kill you … only brings you to your knees and beats the crap out of you…all of these have fit my life since Dave’s death. There are the positive endings too…what […]
Widows: Is it Time for Us to Tune Out?
March 23, 2011
Is it just me…or does it seem like the world is going to heck in a hand-basket? Earthquakes, nuclear explosions, tsunamis, idiots in government. I hear even that sweet, young man, Charlie Sheen, is having issues. Everything that is going on in the world today is enough to overwhelm anyone if they really let it sink in. And I feel like, as widows, when we let something sink in…it sinks. We’ve had ringside seats to the fragility of life and that little mental picture is something that will never go away. When we see disaster, we’re picturing the family members […]
When You’re Feeling Widowy…
March 4, 2011
I know that widowy isn’t a word, but it is a description of how I feel today. Widowy isn’t quite full-on sadness. Widowy is more like melancholy. My grief, my sadness blows around me like a gentle breeze. It’s a breeze that I notice, but it’s not the hurricane force of grief that can throw me to the ground. Widowy for me is kind of sweet and sad all together. Here in Arizona, the weather is cold, but beautiful these days. In the end of January and early February, the events begin that make us the tourist trap we love […]
Widow Vows Not to Become Bitter
February 28, 2011
There is one thing that I am vehement about, and that is I do not want to become a bitter old woman. I see so many widows who become bitter and lonely. They seem to succumb to their loneliness, and lose their zest for living. I can see how easy it would be to become bitter, but I have vowed that I will not. Is this something that is easier to say than to do? I don’t think that it is. I know for certain that you have to maintain your sense of humor. I know for certain that you […]
