Encomium: Kassiani ("Kathy") Glenn

Kassiani Glenn was born in Kifisia, Greece in 1941. It was a rural area outside of Athens, and she lived there and elsewhere, often with members of the extended family, during the German occupation and subsequent Greek Civil War. For years, she had nightmares of the bombings and was never comfortable being hungry.

She came to the United States in her teens when the family moved to Alabama. Members of the community helped her acclimate to her new country. A helpful teacher at Murphy High School renamed her "Kathy," thus preventing a number of butchered pronunciations of her name. 

After high school, she moved to North Carolina, where she met and married Frank Glenn, a seminary student at Wake Forest. Their life was centered around faith, service, and their two children.

Kathy had a strong drive to right wrongs from the time she was very young, from fights over what girls could do versus boys, to explaining Castro's ascent to Frank at their first meeting (his response: "Where have you been all my life?"). She pursued social justice through many avenues, especially ones that improved low-income lives. 

During her time in Gastonia, NC, Kathy volunteered for Gaston Community Action, which cleaned up vacant lots so children could play in them, organized block parties, and pushed for more street lighting and improving the dirt roads in low-income neighborhoods.   

After they moved to Kentucky, Kathy joined the Temporary Kentucky Organization, which represented a coalition of community groups. With then-leader John Grimes, they convinced the city to improve Lexington's bus service and create a recycling center.  

Kathy also earned a degree from the University of Kentucky and became a social worker. She started as a probation officer, but flourished in foster care. She fought hard for her kids, using personal time to help them. Her caseload grew, especially with the "trouble children". At least one of "her kids" went on to become a social worker herself, inspired by Kathy's support in her youth.

When Frank's job moved them to Virginia, they joined the United Church of Christ. Kathy continued her work with foster care before joining a religious group that arranged adoptions. In her "spare time," she continued to support various causes. 

One of her dreams was to become a missionary and help poor people in other countries. In 1994, when Frank retired, her dream came true: she and Frank became missionaries for the United Church of Christ at Silliman University in the Philippines. They taught, but also spearheaded a project to run water pipes to mountain villages with limited water, and founded the “One Church, One Child” foster care project.

Her final move was to Florida. During her time in Pinellas County, she pushed for affordable housing and supported Bread for the World and the Homeless Empowerment Project. Even after Frank died in 2012, she continued to pursue justice with Faith UCC's projects.

Kathy Glenn passed away in Largo, Florida on March 30th, 2025. She is survived by her children, Sarah (Gwen) Glenn, Joel (Kathryn) Glenn, granddaughter Christy McMillen, great-grandchildren Shawn Harvey and Hunter (Hannah) McMillen, and her Filipino godchildren: Phyns Fabrigar Patalinghug, Regal Oliva, and the Andog family: Shian Mae, Kassiani, Franklenn, and Josémarie. Finally, she is survived by her brothers Michael and Theodore (Poly) Papadeas and their children (Ellen, Michael, Sandra, Paul, and Sophia).

She would have appreciated donations to Bread for the World or your local food bank. 

Dumfungled

 

This seemed like the perfect word for my state right now. Yes, the election was a blow, but it was a hellacious week overall. Mother is doing better, or was at the most recent visit, but her permanent location is still undetermined. 

Some of you already know this: Medicare covers 20 days. After that, her health insurance will cover it until Day 100. Then it goes up to full cost, which is around $10K a month. The facility she was at is unlikely to take her back; she requires a level of assistance they don't provide. We are in limbo, a state I despise but find myself in all too often.

We're also looking at relocating. We have enjoyed most of our time in Safety Harbor, but the hurricanes are getting worse. We've evacuated multiple times. One neighbor lost their home to Milton, and other neighbors are in their own limbo state until inspections are finished. Our place suffered some damage and our heat pump needs repairs. Due to problems with the previous heat pump, we have wall units to compensate.

Our home is not insured. We can't buy insurance; it's manufactured housing and too old (1979) to insure. Once it's gone, we're screwed. Plus, the lot rent has become steeper and will probably climb again due to necessary repairs to the park. A house in another state would be just as affordable.

Finally, we still have the next Strangely Funny to publish. Three hurricanes and a family crisis have slowed us further from our usual crawl.

There's a lot on our plates. So, dumfungled we are.

Update on Mother

Three years back, I posted about my mother's dementia. She was no longer able to live on her own, and we moved her to a facility that has taken decent care of her. The staff know us on sight, and she has had other people to talk to.

Unfortunately, her status has declined to the point where she needs more care than they can give her. I'm not going to go into all the details here, but they are connected to the dementia and other health problems.

She's being transferred to a skilled nursing facility not far from where we live. Adjusting will be hard for her; moving was challenging enough the first time.

It is also a reminder of how short our time with her is becoming. At least she still knows who I am.

 

Unhappy Anniversaries

Everyone knows about 9/11/01. Everyone wants to remind us of 9/11/12 today, too, although they seem more interested in talking about Hillary Clinton than honoring the dead.

9/11/12 is also the day my father died. Here we are in Homosassa, Florida. My father liked this restaurant because he could watch the water and the cavorting monkeys on the little island nearby. There were so many little pleasures he found in life.

Seven years later, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop--my mother's health is fading. I think a lot about death and dying these days. Despite his overflowing optimism, Dad had these thoughts, too. Starting in the 1990s, he mailed 'Open in the Event of My Death' envelopes to me, which he periodically updated. During his final illness, he had me open the most recent one so we could review the contents. He'd provided a list of people to notify, actions to take, and a personal message to the church congregation, which I read aloud at the memorial.

How I wish I had another envelope to prepare me now.

August

Ah, August. A time when my email boxes overflow... Strangely Funny submissions are pouring into the MAHLLC coffers, and my personal email has become a FEMA flood zone of politicians pleading for money. Volunteering is the gift that keeps on giving...
An update on the past few months:

• I began temping in a call center in April, mere days after posting how discouraged I felt. In July, the center hired me away from Randstad. I'm happy to be wanted, but I can't figure out why. My father was a great salesman of school textbooks, and all I picked up was a love of reading. This belligerent introvert is learning new skills.
• My ebullient sister-in-law is moving to Tampa Bay in the next few weeks. It will be good to have more family here, and I may develop a social life despite myself.
• Gwen and I have finished Murder at the Million Dollar Pier, the sequel to Murder on the Mullet Express. It's the second book in the Three Snowbirds series, and we'll be doing a cover reveal in the near future.

I'm glad that my life is coming back together. We'll see what these changes bring.