How Long Should Grief Last? I was shocked one day when a friend of mine told me his employer spoke harshly to him after he returned from the three-day bereavement leave his company had given him when his father died after a long battle with cancer. He was understandably sad and a little distracted when his employer said: “Your bereavement […]
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Grief is Healthy Grief is a healthy response. Being sad and remembering things you don’t want to can bring up tears and heartache, but things have to come up to help you heal. Some days the weight is so heavy you have to just lie down alone, and if that’s the case, just do it. Sometimes you want to read […]
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My Father’s Conscious Living As Father’s Day approaches, memories bubble up of my beloved dad. I grew up feeling valued by him, and as a kid, I was always willing to do my part. I learned that when everyone pitches in a reasonable portion of the work around the home, it makes the chores go smoothly. When shared with others, […]
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Woman In A Blue Padded Folding Chair Stop. Breathe. Be. Inhale. Exhale. Wait. I’m sitting in a blue padded folding chair in the basement of a church trying to learn how to meditate. Stop. Breathe. Be. Inhale. Exhale… This just isn’t working for me. It’s the second week of a ten-week course I didn’t want to take in the first […]
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Grief During Chronic Illness I remember when I started to hear the word “chronic” from the mouths of people that were involved in my health. I recall the acupuncturist who asked how long my symptoms had been happening. She nodded knowingly at my answer, “Oh, so this is chronic.” I hear the doctor who seemed pleased with himself when diagnosing […]
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I got used to living a fatherless life, even before he died. When I thought about him, it was always followed by guilt, and then I would actually stutter. It was better to not think about him at all. And then one day my sister, Peggy called. “Hello Anne. You’ve got to come. It’s Dad. He’s dying of cancer.” Is […]
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I’m 12 years old and our family is living in a 3rd floor apartment. The phone rings on this summer day. Mom answers. I watch the color leave her face. I hear sentence fragments. “A lone driver…he didn’t see her…the truck was backing up……a closed casket.” Hanging up the phone, Mom tells all of us to come and sit down. […]
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Finding God’s Comfort Through Loss “Just go downstairs and wait for your aunt, she’ll be here soon,” my mom said. I can hardly wait. Our aunt is taking us to Kiddieland. I start going down the steps and make up a new song, using words the grown-ups were using. When you’re only 6, you don’t know what all the words […]
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A Writer’s Attempt to Outrun Grief I set my timer for twenty minutes and vow to write without stopping. I tell myself not to judge, not to edit, not to think, not to cross out, or hit delete, or re-read. Just keep my fingers dancing across the keyboard, I tell myself. Just keep moving. This is what I tell my students, and this […]
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Handling Your Own End-of-Life Planning Each of us will eventually have to confront death. My late husband, Tom, died in my arms several years ago. Less than two months later, my 84-year-old mother passed with me at her side. While I deeply miss their physical presence, I still have their love and spirits with me today. I will always be […]
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Open to Hope is an online community offering inspirational stories of loss, hope and recovery. We believe hope is the bridge between loss and recovery.
