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| Marlene Black |
“The remembrance gathering is for anyone who has lost a loved one,” stated Marlene Black, bereavement specialist with State of the Heart. “A person need not have had any connection with hospice care. As a matter of fact, we have many attend who have lost loved ones in accidents, suicides and natural deaths.”
Black added that the ceremony is “special” in that it draws so many people together who have a common bond: they are together and they are remembering a loved one. “It is a meaningful ceremony,” she said, “because everyone there understands one another’s loss in life.”
State of the Heart Hospice, with offices in Greenville, Coldwater and Portland, cares for patients and families in eastern Indiana and western Ohio who are confronting a life limiting illness. A second Holiday Remembrance Gathering will be held in Jay County Sunday, December 2 at the Baptist Fellowship Church in Portland.
Area funeral homes participating in the Ohio ceremony include: Brockman Boeckman Funeral Home; Hogenkamp Funeral Homes; Lehman, Hogenkamp, Dzendzel Funeral Home, Stocker-Fraley Funeral Home, and Zechar Bailey Funeral Homes.
During the gathering ceremony those attending will have candles and there will be a lighting ceremony, along with scripture readings.
“The Holiday Remembrance Gathering is a wonderful way to remember a loved one, particularly at the holiday time when a person typically reminisces about times gone by, Black said. “It is also a time to acknowledge how much they miss that person.”
For more information about the Remembrance Gathering, please call the Greenville office at 548-2999. There is no need for reservations. Light refreshments will also be served. Visit the agency web site at www.stateoftheheartcare.org.