The Open to Hope Community

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Articles:

Feeling Loved After Loss on Valentine’s Day

By Suzy Yehl Marta, Founder of Rainbows For All Children Valentine’s Day is synonymous with love, romance, roses and more. Often called a Hallmark holiday, Valentine’s Day can be a difficult time when grieving a loss or life altering change. On my first Valentine’s Day after my divorce, I was innocently walking through Hallmark I found myself angry that this holiday even existed. I hurriedly spent more than $50 on Valentine’s cards for my children, parents and close friends. I thought, “Who needs a spouse anyway?! I have many others in my life I could share my sentiments and pamper.” […]

NOW

Even though the calendar reads mid-January the days are getting longer. Someone said that at this time of year the daylight increases by 3 minutes each twenty-four hours; that comforts me, even though it was 10 degrees this morning. That soft evening light that stretches over the river and trees by my house gives me a quiet settling as if I was taking that first deep breath of a meditation. Grief is strange, as you know. One minute you want to hold on to the past dwelling on every little minutia of your lost loved one, and then as the […]

sadly missed

my mum suddenly passed away recently in such a tragic way.im finding it very difficult to deal with the pain is too much.im still so shocked and cant take it in,never felt this sad in my life,i feel numb and so lost.my mum was my rock and shes been taken from me in a bad way.how do i deal with it,shes just 52.

losing a friend in a one car wreck with drunk driv

73 days ago, november 9th, 2010, i lost a girl who meant so much to me. rachel lutrell. she was always there, always could make me smile, always knew what to do to make anyoine smile or make anything fun. yeah, we had our fights, but she meant the world to me. she died in a one car wreck. her and 3 other people were in the car. she was 14. the other girl was 16, one guy was 19, and the driver was 18, now 19. she was the only one who didnt make it through. the driver had […]

A Boy, a Man

It¹s cold this morning in the mountains, really cold. While I was preparing to post my blog for the week something was gnawing at me, a sad incident that wouldn¹t leave me alone. Yesterday a local boy was found in the snow after 2 days of searching. The first of these nights was 17 below zero when he decided to leave a note on facebook, ³I love you all.² And walked out of the house taking a gun. Suicide leaves us with so many ³what ifs², and a weight of failure and blame on some level, that is added to […]

Sudden Loss of My Baby Brother

On December 1st 2010, my life changed suddenly. All I can remember is my dad calling crying saying Ty was in a tragic car accident and we didnt know what was going to happen. 30 minutes later he was gone…I couldnt say I love you one more time, no more hugs, no more promises, no more future hopes for such a young and promising person. How does someone live normally again when the future is no longer what it was supposed to be?

Give Grief A Voice

My 16 year old son recently made a video about teen grief. He asked other teens to tell their stories, and used them to create the video. He was also approached by other teens who told him that they thought it was great that he was making it, but that they just could not bring themselves to talk about their experience. I would like to share his video with all of you. Here is the link: Please share with the kids you know! God Bless you all!

Dancing in the rain

To the sounds of the patter I did not create Dancing in the rain Fast and furious is my pace Dancing in the rain Can’t stop these piercing needles dictate Dancing in the rain Cos I’m wet, drenched soaked to the core I have no choice but to dance in the rain For my son Ibrahim Bash-Taqi 12.02.93 – 24.11.10

Shh…

They see me smiling They don’t know why They are so bewildered They thought you died You are so alive to me my Dit Right here in my heart For my son Ibrahim Bash-Taqi 12.02.93 – 24.11.10

i love and miss my daughter

most of the time i appear to look o.k. on the outside but my insides are not. most of the time i dont understand why i am here on this earth most of the time i dont want to be here on this earth i would rather be with my child i feel as though i dont have a purpose in life i currently do not have a job i spend alot of time alone alot of times i feel as though life isnt worth living anymore my felicia was my only child she was my world now my world […]

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.