Diana Doyle

Diana Doyle lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Peter, and her six-year-old daughter Dempsey. Their daughter Savannah was born in 1999. She was diagnosed with Metachromatic Leukodystrophy, which is similar to Lou Gehrig’s disease at the age of two-and-a-half. She died at age four. Since then, Diana has been speaking and writing in hopes of helping others who are dealing with losses of all kinds.

Articles:

What is Grief and Mourning?

Shock Denial Sadness Numbness Disbelief Sick Longing Guilt Anger Exhaustion A piece of your heart forever missing. Grief and mourning have many different dimensions and emotions. And when your life collides with grief, and you’re knocked down by the sudden death of a loved one, the degree and power of grief is vast and all consuming. Grief seeps into every pore. Like a giant, it overshadows everything you do, everything you say, everything you feel. And, for a time, the ‘stop’ button gets pushed on your life and there’s no way to hit rewind….erase….fast forward! Yes, grief consumes your world […]

The First Clear Day Without Rain, Ten Years On

5,256,000! Over 5 million! That’s the number of minutes since my sister died…the minutes and moments she has missed out on in these past years. That’s a lot of time….ten years worth to be exact. Ten years ago, my only sister Tarnia was killed in a car accident. It was the first clear day without rain, the last few days of the school holidays in Australia. My sister had decided since it had stopped raining, she’d take her kids to the beach. That day, my sister’s destiny was decided. I often wonder if it had of kept raining if she’d […]

Hospice Comforted During the Worst of Times

We’ve just bought a brand spanking new bedroom setting. Its towering wooden bed head makes me feel so tiny…but like a Princess! Anyway, yesterday, while clearing the space for our new bed, I found hidden under the old bed, a book. A very very special book. I held it in my hands like a newborn…..and I considered not opening it because what’s on the pages makes me cry. But I had to as the written memories inside are a treasure trove for my soul. The book is from Hospice, from the saintly staff that cared for Savannah in her final months. […]

Mums, Daughters and Mother’s Day

When I was growing up, I thought my mum was the most beautiful mother in the world! I would sit in our bathroom, cross-legged on a white fluffy stool and gaze at her as she applied her make-up. I was fascinated, watching her dip her cosmetic brush into the sink water, then she’d dab the brush into her charcoal Estee Lauder eye shadow and transform her deep set eyes into a picture of glamour. And when I got older, we’d share a glass of wine together in that same bathroom as we groomed ourselves, swapped clothes and talked about life. Mum never left the house without […]

Wondering About the Dreams of a Lost Child

THE BEREAVED – May Williams Ward In the next room, in the low chair, In the soft dark, are you there? I do not ask it when sun is laid Through the checkered window in yellow plaid- Then love this is past seems rich enough And having had that, I can give you up, But in the deep dark…In the low chair In the next room, are you there? I want you there…. This morning, while trying to rinse dried oats off Peter’s breakfast bowl, I looked over at Dempsey who was lost in a TV program. She was sitting […]

Stranger More Comforting to Bereaved Than Friends

Do you ever find comfort from a stranger? While in Australia over Christmas, I met a young woman, an outsider to my world, who knew nothing of my losses. I don’t usually tell new people I meet how I’ve lost so many family members; it blows their minds. But I’m glad I did with her! In our little cottage in Australia, I have a photo wall of dead people. That may seem strange to some, but to anyone who is traveling this road through grief, it’s not so odd. I love my wall. It has photos of family members that have […]

Grief has no Time-line

Yesterday, I read a blog about grief after child loss. It was an interesting article, and it made me wonder about my opinions on grief. I must tell you before you read on, this lady hasn’t had to bury her child, thankfully. The blog read, “Everyone I’ve interviewed about losing a child agrees, it takes five years.” That’s right, after FIVE years, if I am to believe her, I should be through the worst of my grief over Savannah! As soon as I read it, the hair on the back of my neck prickled. I’m afraid I have to disagree. I thought to myself, “Well I must be abnormal!” In […]

Mother’s Day Brings Sorrow — and Joy

Every year on the morning of Mother’s Day, I cry. On this special day, I’m greeted with a huge dimpled smile from our daughter Dempsey, who sneaks into our room, usually with a present she has made for me, hidden behind her back. The moment tugs at my heart strings, and I cry. I cry at how lucky I am to have her in my life, and I cry that our other daughter, Savannah, who would be ten years old, isn’t with her sister, giving me a huge hug too and climbing into bed beside us. If I go to […]

Mother Accepts Sorrow, Doesn’t Let it Rule Her

By Diana Doyle Five years ago, our daughter died. Savannah was only four. The grief I felt that day is still with me and still raw, but it helps me move forward and heal. After she died, it was hard to accept that nothing had changed for anyone else. The sun still rose and set and people went about their business as usual, even though my own personal corner of the world would never be the same. I had to find a way out of it, or be trapped there forever. My new baby girl and my husband both needed […]

Enjoy Life Despite Loss

By Diana Doyle — ?

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.