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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Returning Home After Seven Years of Widowhood
February 27, 2011
Like the prodigal son, we go to far-flung places when we are grieving. We may splurge on time alone or insist on being with others continuously. We may splurge on items we never owned before or insist on keeping every item from the past. We may splurge on thoughts of the past and insist on keeping things the way they used to be. I am returning home. After almost 7 years of widowhood, moving 3 times and challenging myself to meet new opportunities and others, I have moved again to Atlanta. No, Atlanta is not a place I ever laid […]
Deaths of Husbands Bond Two Young Widows
February 19, 2011
“A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you just the way you are.” –Unknown My friend’s husband recently passed away after a long battle with cancer. But as we all know…it doesn’t matter how long you’ve “known”…it’s always a shock when that moment comes. We were always meant to be friends, and I think we were always meant to have a place in each other’s lives. Our friendship is unusual because in the two years we’ve known each other, I’ve never once met her husband. He had been sick the entire time I’ve […]
Winter is Widow’s Season of Grief
February 18, 2011
Every person’s grief has a season. Mine happens to be winter, and therefore it includes Valentine’s Day. Unfortunately, this annual holiday of love and romance will always remind me of the darkest chapter of my life. As a child, I would get very excited at the beginning of February as I prepared my Valentines for our class party. First, I went to the local drug store with my mother and selected the perfect box of assorted small cardboard Valentines. Each one had its own thin white envelope on which I carefully printed a classmate’s name. Displaying my assortment on a […]
Susan W. Reynolds; Creating a Healing Environment
February 17, 2011
Susan W. Reynolds, after being widowed at age 49, found that no matter where she went change in her surroundings were needed. Combining her training in physical therapy and interior redesign, Susan created a system for looking at your home as your haven and where creative healing can start. She is the author of Room For Change: A Story of Healing through Photos and Poems. https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/audio.opentohope.com/2011/01/OTH_Susan-W.-Reynolds_11_22_10.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
On Valentine’s Day, Choose to Believe in Love
February 11, 2011
Love is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end. ~Author Unknown I was reading recently about a woman who, married to her husband for 59 years, wondered how she would ever go on and celebrate days like Valentine’s in the same way as she did in her youth. Reading her story reminded me of my father after my mother died. It also reminded me of my own thoughts about the needed cancellation of every celebratory day on the calendar following the loss of Stephen. […]
At Valentine’s Time, Widow Misses Even the Boredom
February 10, 2011
As a widow, I’ve found that ordinary things can take on a whole new meaning. For instance, today at work I turned over the page of my desk calendar. There on one side of the calendar page was a page full of hearts with a message, “Remember, next Monday is Valentine’s Day.” I found myself feeling extremely blue at the thought of another Valentine’s Day without the love of my life (my husband passed away almost 6 years ago). I remembered how he would always have flowers in a vase on the kitchen table for me when I came home from […]
After Death Contact Keeps Wife Connected to Soul Mate
February 9, 2011
After my husband’s death, I looked for ways to continue our love. I looked for ways to stay connected to him beyond the veil. I wanted to understand death and dying. I searched for ways for us to stay connected through our love, and for ways that we could still communicate. I read about ADC’s, which stands for after death communication. I prayed that Eddie would still let me know that he was with me, and that he still loved me; that was the only way that I was going to survive my walk alone. I now believe that our […]
Socializing Again After the Loss of a Spouse
February 2, 2011
Within a few months of my husband’s death, I was sitting in counseling, reviewing my life, rethinking my future, and rebelling about the future prospects. My counselor suggested that my social circle would no longer be “corporate” entertaining nor logistics with teenage daughters and their networking. What then? She commented that my circle would be women. I cried, I cursed, I cringed. Hadn’t the rug already been pulled out from under me and now another one shoved underneath without the welcome mat? I was willing to try. A friend of mine was turning 50 years old. She, […]
Janelle Shantz Hertzler’s: Healing Through Journaling and Poetry
January 27, 2011
Janelle Shantz Hertzler’s husband was killed by a drunk driver. On a quest for healing she studied trauma, wrote poetry, journaled, and began photography. She is the author of Seasons of Solace: A Story of Healing through Photos and Poems. Her website www.journey-through-grief.com is also a result of what she learned to heal. https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/audio.opentohope.com/2011/01/OTH_Janelle-Shantz-Hertzler_11_01_10.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
