Dear Hope: Since my mom died I don’t feel like I can function normally. Will this ever go away?
When someone close to us dies the world doesn’t just feel different… it is different. The world is split open. And you’re expected to keep showing up. Like you didn’t just lose the person who made you, held you, knew you before you did.
Dear Hope: I expected summer to lighten my mood, but I can't stop thinking about all of our memories. What do I do?
Sure, “time heals wounds” (really it just changes them) but, grief doesn’t go away just because the UV index is higher.
And you might be feeling... stuck.
Grieving. Missing them. Feeling like a ghost in a season that once held your best days.
Dear Hope: My husband died. Now I have to take care of our daughter while I’m grieving. How am I supposed to balance it all?
Really, there’s no manual for this.
No morning routine checklist that makes space for grief and breakfast and getting ready for daycare.
Dear Hope: What do I do with all of this grief when the world around me expects red, white, and blue joy?
You don’t have to slap a smile on your face because the calendar says “celebrate.”
You don’t have to cheer for a kind of freedom that feels so out of reach.
You don’t have to pretend that that crack of the fireworks feels fun and comfortable.
Dear Hope: My partner died and I’m dating again. Why do I feel so guilty?
No one teaches you how to live after death. No one tells you that you might crave a relationship before your heart feels ready.
That laughter might feel like betrayal.
That kissing someone new might leave you sobbing in the shower after.
Dear Hope: How am I supposed to live without my partner?
They were your home. Your person. The one who saw you in your quiet moments, who finished your sentences, who made you feel like you could exhale in a world that never seems to let up.
Dear Hope: How can I memorialize my loved one when a traditional funeral doesn’t feel right?
There’s this moment after someone dies where everything goes strangely quiet. The world has stopped spinning and life feels like it’s paused. Your heart is numb and raw.
Dear Hope: How do I cope with grief anniversaries?
Grief anniversaries don’t announce themselves.
They don’t send a reminder.
Even if you have them marked on the calendar, they still crawl into your chest when you least expect it.
Dear Hope: How Long Does Grief Last?
Let’s get one thing straight: Grief doesn’t come with an expiration date.
We’ve all heard the phrase that “time heals all wounds,” but anyone who’s actually been cracked open by loss knows the truth: time changes grief.
Dear Hope: Everyone keeps telling me to 'stay strong' after losing my loved one. But I feel like falling apart. Is that okay?
Of course it’s okay. It’ more than okay.
Oftentimes, people say these phrases and words when a loved one dies — they are automatic and built into our language. But, they aren’t helpful.
Dear Hope: I feel like I’m supposed to be “over” my grief, but I’m not. Is there something wrong with me?
We're fed a misleading idea: grief as a tidy process with clear phases and stages. But our lived experience never matches that convenient narrative. Our grief doesn't follow a predictable path toward some predetermined resolution.
How Can I Stay Connected To My Loved One?
Say Their Name.
A Lot.
Say it to strangers. Say it in the car.
Say it to yourself.
Don’t let silence erase them.
Someone I Love Is Grieving…How Can I Support Them?
Start here: Show up. Gently. Consistently. Without fixing.
Grief doesn’t need solutions — it needs presence.
It needs someone who can sit beside the wreckage without rushing to rebuild it.
What is Acceptance in Grief, and How Can I Manage it?
Acceptance might look like a feeling of lightness in the body, a sense of understanding and acceptance of the reality of what happened (even if it isn’t something you would have chosen to happen), feeling a connection to your person.
What is Depression in Grief, and How Can I Manage it?
Depression might look like feeling heavy, unmotivated, uninterested in life, believing nothing else matters, believing life cannot go on, feeling unable to get out of bed, move, or do life
What is Bargaining in Grief, and How Can I Manage it?
BARGAINING might look like pleading with self or others for things to be different than how they are, ruminating on “what ifs”, believing things “should” be different than how they are, making resolutions, a sense of “grasping” in the body.
What is Anger in Grief, and How Can I Manage it?
Anger might look like having harsh or unrealistic expectations for self or others, lashing out at self or others, tension in the body, inability to relax the body, feeling like you might explode at any moment.
What Is Denial in Grief, and How Can I Manage it?
Denial can look like: feeling stuck, an inability to say what happened, pretending as if nothing happened, not changing anything in your life to accommodate the loss, refusing to talk about the person or what happened, physical feeling of being small or hidden.
What Are The Stages Of Grief?
Please know that the stages of grief are not linear, and are not exclusive. By this I mean that you probably will experience each stage of grief, but you won’t experience them in order, you won’t experience them once, you will never “complete” them, and you will also experience a lot of other emotions.
I am Dreading an Upcoming Date. What Should I Do?
Know that it’s ok to dread upcoming days. And there is no right or wrong way to celebrate, or even acknowledge, significant dates. I have found that for many people I have worked with, the anticipation of the day is actually worse than the day itself, although for you that might be different. You are allowed to say no to anything that doesn’t feel right to you.