The Open to Hope Community

From Heartbreak to Happiness

(Note: “From Heartbreak To Happiness” reprinted with permission by Aurora Winter) Most of us are looking for love in all the wrong places. When a relationship ends, whether it be […]

With Husband’s Death, New Woman is Born

By Virginia Hadfield —

Forgive for Good: Nine Steps to Self Forgiveness

9 Steps to Self Forgiveness:

Five Prominent People Who Changed the Face of HIV/AIDS

By Tim Leach —

The Phoenix

The Phoenix: I sit here alone. My husband, 40 years of age and in the prime of his life ended his life last year by suicide. I feel like I […]

Woman Grieves Over Death of a Baby 35 Years Ago

Tammy writes in with a question: My friend who is 52 is grieving over a baby she lost when she was 17. She has 2 other children- adults now. But she is suddenly feeling this loss feeling like she was supposed to have 3 children. Is it possible to grieve this far from the death?

Doris Jeanette, Psy.D., author of?Opening the Heart, responds: It is not only possible, but ?helpful, to?grieve any loss that has not been fully?experienced. ?It does not matter how many years ago the original loss occurred.??As a young?mother, your friend may not have been able to fully grieve the loss. She may have blamed herself and as a result shut off her feelings and emotions. Now she?may be ready?to feel the loss and express her emotions. This is wonderful. You can be a helpful?friend?by?supporting?her in expressing her feelings and?emotions?in?healthy?ways. You can also?encourage?her to seek professional help, if needed. ?She will be a stronger and?healthier?person after she processes the loss of her child. Opening the heart is a life-long process and how it unfolds is how it unfolds. Honor her and her healing process.

Widow’s Friends Disown Her After She Finds New Love

Anne writes: I lost my dad and husband within a week of each other?three years ago, and life has been a battle. My dearest friends (a couple that my husband and I used to do everything with) won’t accept the fact I am seeing another man and have been for nearly two years. The husband told me the other day never to come back and see them. I have given them space and continue to love and support them, Please help. I am just so sad about it. I have tried talking to them but they won’t. I am also their daughter’s godmother and she is heart-broken her parents are doing this. Help me.

What can Kids Hold Onto After a Parent has Died?

By Harriet Hodgson It has been just over a month since my daughter was killed in a car crash.   Every day has been a day of tears, some voiced, […]

I Lost my Brother and Mother

My mother had a 3 story house that is broken into one studio apartment with a bathroom in the basement, a 2-bedroom duplex on the first and second floor. I […]

Preparing for the Death of a Father

by Neil Chethik – Sigmund Freud called it  the most poignant loss of his life. Sean Connery termed it  a shattering blow.  Norman Mailer likened it to  having a […]