 Our theme for November blog posts is on "finishing well." Especially the impact that doing so has upon relationships.
By Lavern Nissley Encompass Executive Director Finishing has been a major theme for Ronda and me the past several years. In 2018-2019 we moved our four octogenarian parents to Springfield from Central Illinois (my parents) and London, Ohio (her parents) to Springfield, Ohio where we could more easily support them in their twilight years. All of them eventually became residents of Forest Glen or Wooded Glen. We literally came into the world with nothing, unable to care for ourselves. And typically, that's how we're going to leave this world. Three of our four parents have crossed the final finish line of life: my Dad, November 12, 2021; my Mom, March 6, 2023; and Ronda's Mom, September 26, 2023. Ronda and I are also looking at closing a major chapter in our own lives as we step away from executive leadership at Encompass by June 1, 2024. So, finishing . . . finishing well has been on our minds a lot! My heart kind of jumped when I heard the theme for blogs this month.
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 Lavern and Ronda with family and friends at her mother's graveside service September 30, 2023 Our blog posts in October will focus on perspective, especially those glimpses of insight that guide us toward healthier relationships. By Lavern Nissley Executive Director of Encompass Since November 2021 three of our four parents have passed, and I've had a major influence upon developing what the funeral/life celebration service will look like. The most recent life celebration was that of Ronda's Mom, Cora Miller, who passed peacefully September 26, 5:20 pm, right before an Encompass board meeting I was attending. Two bits of perspective came to me during the planning and actual life celebration service. Join me in this brief reflection and see if anything resonates with your own experience.  
Till death do us part. Those are the vows that we hear at weddings. But what do they really mean to each of us? We get married, have families, create memories, and hardly ever give that simple phrase another thought. Until the day comes that a doctor tells us devastating news, or a tragic accident happens that is beyond imaginable.
 By Lavern Nissley
Encompass Executive Director Our outreach coordinator, Hollie Kowalski, asked us to "get personal" this month in our blog posts. I think that's intended as "personal in a positive way!"😊 This quickly led me to thinking about the absolutely honest, personal, and mutually supportive interchanges Ken, Karen, and I have had over the past 3-4 years. You won't read about this anywhere else, so get ready, buckle up, and let's dive in!  By Lavern Nissley
Executive Director of Encompass A friend of mine who lost his wife to cancer several years ago told me that the grief he experienced when coming back into the empty house alone was "suffocating". Difficult to breathe. Excruciating. Really painful. Awful. Death is an inevitable feature of life on this planet, so we know it's going to happen. As my primary care doctor often remarks, "We're all going to die." So what are some ways to get through the grief period without crashing and burning?  By Abby Glaser For many of us the new year brings reflection and reevaluating of goals and priorities. A new year brings a new slate to determine what we do and who we will be. My family finds ourselves looking at this more than usual as we’ve lost two family members already in the new year. There are few experiences in life that will force you to evaluate your own legacy than losing a loved one. What will be said about you in your eulogy?
 By Lavern Nissley
Dave King, a friend and colleague from 30 years ago in Cincinnati, died at age 55 last week. The text notification from another friend hit me hard. "No, no, no!" I had just been thinking of calling him and getting together. But he had collapsed while working out and couldn't be revived. Several of us who worked together with Dave in the 1980's at New Beginnings Fellowship, a small suburban church in Finneytown/Cincinnati, attended his funeral Saturday. What a surreal experience to see such a close friend laying in a casket! But there was unexpected inspiration in this funeral from Dave's two children, Matthew and Erin. |
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Program content is the sole responsibility of Encompass Connection Center and does not necessarily represent the views of the funders.
Encompass Connection Center services are provided to all eligible persons on a non-discriminatory basis. Encompass Connection Center complies with all applicable laws and regulations concerning discrimination does not discriminate on the basis of the potential participant's race, gender, gender orientation, age, disability or religion.
Registered 501(c)(3). EIN: 37-1485217