Loss of a Family Member

After Loss of a parent

Stories of others who have lost parents will inspire and support you. Read, listen and watch. Hope is the bridge between loss and recovery.

Open to Hope Radio

Articles

  • How to Survive a Memorial Service by Eating All the Cookies

    Posted on July 12, 2022 - by Sherry Walling

    Dad Helped Plan His Memorial Service We had a memorial service for my dad. He helped plan the shindig. He picked the songs for the video slideshow, asked me to […]

    Read More

  • Getting Through my First Father’s Day Without Dad

    Posted on June 13, 2022 - by Brooke Carlock

    ‘You No Longer Have a Dad’ I never did much for my dad on Father’s Day.  We didn’t have any particular traditions to mark the occasion.  It was the same […]

    Read More

  • Believing in Magical Thoughts

    Posted on May 31, 2022 - by Mary-Frances O'Connor

    Believing in Magical Thoughts A few years ago, an older colleague of mine passed away. I spent some time with his widow in the months afterward. As a prominent sleep […]

    Read More

  • Memory of a Death

    Posted on May 31, 2022 - by Mary-Frances O'Connor

    Memory of a Death When a loved one has died, we have a memory of learning that they died. This memory of a death might be of the phone call […]

    Read More

  • How My Mother’s Loss Changed Me

    Posted on May 6, 2022 - by Lori Koidahl

    My Mother’s Loss Changed Me My metamorphosis commenced when I suffered the intense loss of my mom. Her death unraveled all my patterns, disrupted my life, and revealed how much […]

    Read More

  • Telling the Children that Mom is Going to Die

    Posted on April 29, 2022 - by Stedman Stevens

    Telling the Children My wife was dying, and telling the children was the next step. My wife and I struck out on our journey to prepare, protect, and parent our […]

    Read More

  • Dear Motherless Daughter: As Mother’s Day Approaches

    Posted on April 14, 2022 - by Mershon Niesner

    Dear Motherless Daughter, You’re probably not looking forward to Mother’s Day this year—or any year. I’ve been motherless since I was eight and I still don’t look forward to Mother’s […]

    Read More

  • Don’t Rush Grief

    Posted on April 12, 2022 - by Karla Noland

    Grief didn’t strike me the moment my mother died. Instead, my grief began when I realized my mother was dying, which was on her 78th birthday. Shock, disbelief, and sadness […]

    Read More

  • As My Mother Lay Dying

    Posted on April 11, 2022 - by Karla Noland

    Not Much Time Left A week before Thanksgiving, my aunt called me and said my mother didn’t have much time left, and the nurse on call at the hospice facility […]

    Read More

  • Andrew Garfield: ‘I Hope This Grief Stays With Me’

    Posted on December 12, 2021 - by Becky Aud-Jennison

    I Hope This Grief Stays With Me “I hope this grief stays with me.” These beautiful words of Andrew Garfield, speaking to Stephen Colbert (starting at 4:20), have gone viral […]

    Read More
  • Open to hope

    Advice for Those Who Have Lost a Parent

    Posted on August 8, 2021 - by Harry Barry

    It is important to recognize that each one us loses a “different” parent. This explains the variety of grief reactions in a family. Thus, it’s difficult to give universal advice […]

    Read More
  • Open to hope

    Suicide Sucks

    Posted on July 9, 2021 - by Jenny Landon

    Funeral After a Suicide April 29, 2016— Minneapolis, MN After what had been a week of gray, rainy, cold days, it felt amazing to feel the sunshine again. It should […]

    Read More

Open to Hope TV

Foundation

Get Involved

Resources

Copyright © 2022 Open to Hope