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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An Absent Connection: Eight Years After a Child-Loss
May 4, 2017
This October it will be 8 years since my 10-year-old son David was tripped up during a football practice, and suffered an acute subdural hematoma which took him forever from our lives. He is always in my thoughts. Every day his smile and love runs through my day. Every benchmark of growing up his little sister Abby, now 15, takes reminds me he is not here. I don’t cry about it most days, I have long since come to terms with the incredible sadness and integrated it into who I am now, but he is always right there, peeking through, […]
The Switch Stays On: Attachment After a Loss
May 3, 2017
How we start out in life has consequences for the rest of our lives. The connections we make, or don’t make, to whoever parents us, sets the stage for all our future relationships. The more our parents are dependable, nurturing and sensitive to our needs, the more we are set up to be part of dependable, nurturing and sensitive relationships throughout life. If our parenting is erratic, lacking in nurture, or insensitive to our needs, our future relationships can be filled with anxiety, expecting or fearing to be let down again, or we may avoid closeness in relationships as we […]
Webinar: What a Father Learned From the Death of his Son
April 21, 2017
Dr. Gloria Horsley interviews Pastor Dennis Apple about “Where is God?” after a loss—and in many cases, especially on holidays like Easter. Apple lost his son, Denny, when Denny was only 18 years old. He died of a sudden illness in 1991. Today, Apple counsels others who are grieving the loss of a loved one. He’s also a pastor at College Church of Nazarene in Olathe, Kansas. Along with his wife, Buelah, Apple is consistently working towards addressing his own grief in a healthy manner. He wrote Life After the Death of My Son: What I’m Learning as a tool […]
Webinar: Healing After a Fatal Car Accident
April 19, 2017
The Compassionate Friends, the Open to Hope Foundation, and Carl McDonald, the National Law Enforcement Initiatives Manager for MADD, offer a special webinar on grieving after losing a child due to a driving under the influence (DUI) incident. Drs. Heidi and Gloria Horsley, the hosts, lost a loved one to a DUI crash—Gloria’s son and Heidi’s brother, Scott, was killed in a car crash. They met McDonald at The Compassionate Friends years ago, and were inspired by his ability to find hope after losing his daughter. McDonald’s ex-wife was an alcoholic, and that was the primary cause of their divorce. […]
Paula Stephens, M.A. : Grief To Growth
April 13, 2017
Paula Stephens is a speaker, yogi and blogger on the topic of healing after loss. Her blog, “What I Wish Other People Understood After Losing A child,” has received over 1.3 million views. She lost her father at an early age and her son, Brandon, in 2010 from a prescription drug reaction. She is the author of From Grief to Growth. http://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/opentohope.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/04084716/Paula-Stephens.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Episode 101- Amy Cooper and Tom Tomasello: Will I Ever Sing Again?
March 27, 2017
Will I ever smile or sing again? On this show Drs’ Gloria and Heidi Horsley and Alan Pedersen, Executive Director of The Compassionate Friends, explore with bereaved parents; Amy Cooper, singer, songwriter and musician Tom Tomasello the struggle to find their creative process after the deaths of their sons’, Jon and Rory. Amy sings while Tom accompanies her on keyboard.
Episode 100: Life After Loss: 100th Anniversary Show with Henrietta J. Burroughs and Alan Pedersen
March 27, 2017
What if? Have you ever thought about what your life would have looked like without loss? On this 100th Open To Hope anniversary show Dr’s Gloria and Heidi Horsley, explore with bereaved parents Alan Pedersen, Executive Director of The Compassionate Friends and reporter and talk show host Henrietta J. Burroughs the impact of loss and how it has informed their life choices. Alan Pedersen sings to close the show.
Healing Tears: No Apologies for Crying
March 1, 2017
I remember the first year of our son’s passing. How I vacillated between feeling numb, wooden, dry-eyed, to days when all I could do was cry. So many times I never knew what I might do. I had never been someone who normally cried in front of people, and yet I found myself doing just that. But then, fresh in my grief, nothing was normal. I was on new ground, I had never traveled before, and if there were rules of conduct somewhere, I could not find them. There are no schools to equip you for gut-searing grief. Tears were […]
Jeanne Weaver: Death of A son in Military
February 23, 2017
After her son, Todd, was killed, Jeanne turned to her God-given talent to help her learn how to navigate through her new state of being. Art was her vocation. She would now use it therapeutically. Jeanne created 21 oil paintings and later a book Losing Todd. A Mother’s Journey. http://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/opentohope.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/15064713/Jeanne-Weaver.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
