Textile sale to benefit Freeland care home.

The day Beautiful died, there was a party going on in the house, a fellow guest had put on a fried chicken feast and a bluegrass band was playing.

Her son was also in the house celebrating his birthday.

Enso House friends agreed the commotion in the house was not bothering the dying woman.

“Beautiful loved to party,” said Lee Compton, an Enso House volunteer.

One of the violin players from the band fulfilled her request to play her a song bedside.

Then she passed on.

At Enso House in Freeland people enjoy the freedom to die as they lived. Loud or quiet. Fast or slow. Alone or surrounded by friends and family.

Those who come to live at Enso House for care have been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and their physician has acknowledged that hospice care is appropriate, and a “Do not resuscitate order” has been established.

Because of restrictions of the adult family home license, Enso House is unable to accept children, or individuals with a primary diagnosis of dementia or developmental delay.

“We are taking care of our 31st person,” said Dr. Ann Cutcher, director of Enso House.

The dedicated staff and volunteers have provided more than 500 days of care to guests at the house in the past five years.

Others are now working to help Enso House.

To support Enso House, a fundraiser is planned during the first week of December.

The opening reception will be on Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m.

There will be a hat and textile sale in the Front Room of the Bayview Cash Store Dec. 2-6 to raise funds for Enso House. Sale hours are Saturday 2-9 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. Hours during the week are to be announced.

The sale features beautiful hand-loomed textiles from women’s cooperatives in Guatemala – A Thread of Hope – brought to the U.S. by Ron Spector and textiles brought from Laos and Thailand. A wide array of artful silk and chenille shawls, scarves, coats, handbags, table runners, wall hangings were brought back by Enso House volunteer Lee Compton.

The textiles were made by women in Third World countries involved with fair trade co-ops.

The textile sale will benefit two great causes, Enso House and the crafts women of Guatemala, Laos and Thailand.

Also for sale are hand-crafted, one-of-a-kind felt hats created by friends of Enso House. Cards and calligraphy scrolls and other small paper art is also for sale.

With prices from $20 to $400, there’s something for everybody.

A final place of rest

Enso House can only accommodate two guests at a time to guarantee the continued quality of care and individual attention, Cutcher explained.

The average age of guests is 73, but the youngest person to come to Enso House for end-of-life care was 41, the oldest 94.

People from all walks of life are welcomed, and if they don’t have money left in the bank, that doesn’t matter to the administrators at Enso House.

Nestled into the 20-acre property with rolling hills and beautiful wilderness, Enso House is a home for people of all faiths who desire comfortable care at the end of their lives.

Many of the Enso House volunteers and leaders have witnessed end-of-life care in other settings and say the personal approach at Enso House allows the dying to feel in control.

“There is a growing awareness of death and dying,” said Dr. Betsy MacGregor, board member of Enso House. “There is a reclaiming of the dying experience to bring it back into people’s hands.”

For decades death was, and in many circles still is, a taboo, not to be seen or talked about. End-of-life care often resembles a mechanical process – tubes and machines, strict visiting hours, no pets, she said.

Enso House is a unique home that provides emotional and spiritual support to individuals in the final phases of life.

The dynamic of Enso House, how life unfolds everyday, is shaped with every person who makes the home his or her final place to live.

“What it’s like emerges from the person who is choosing to come,” Cutcher said. “It’s unpredictable.”

“As small as it is, each guest’s care is redefined every day,” said Cynthia Trowbridge, board member, coordinator, volunteer and the woman who found and made available the space for the 5,000-square-foot building.

TinyBlue, a private Seattle foundation, purchased the home and property for Enso House. TinyBlue founders Cynthia and David Trowbridge are on Enso’s board of directors.

Wishes are accepted and the staff works to make them reality.

“We learned how to cook any meal – Thai food, Greek food. This is not a vegetarian establishment,” Cutcher said with a laugh.

There are parties – Thanksgiving, birthday parties with the whole family. But there is also room for quite reflection, meditation and prayer.

Enso House has a physician and nurse on staff, and services at the home embrace the full range of palliative care, though not acute medical care. Residents maintain their primary physician and receive the interdisciplinary support of Home Health and Hospice of Whidbey General Hospital. Registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, physical and occupational therapists, social workers and chaplains are available on an on-call basis to assist with treatment plans, medications and specialized attention.

Certified nursing assistants help with feeding, bathing, toilet assistance and moving about. Trained volunteers provide assistance with feeding, socializing, housecleaning and grounds maintenance. Complementary and comfort-based therapies, such as massage, Reiki, homeopathy, essential oils, yoga, art and music therapy are offered on an individualized basis.

There are choices for the families and loved-ones as well.

After death, they can stay with the body as long as they want to. They can participate in ritual washings, they can hold prayer vigils or sing and celebrate.

“I feel we’re caring as much for the family as for the guests,” Cutcher said.

“Everyone chooses what comes next,” Cutcher said.

And guests and their families take adventage of this unique opportunity.

“There has been singing and music. We had some very fine whiskey and champagne. [With] one family, the sons left after their father died and built a coffin and came back at night with the coffin,” she said.

Home is different

Families can stay with the dying at Enso House or they can visit as often as they want. Kids and pets are allowed for visits.

Cutcher recalled the story of a man who had been breeding parakeets. One day an Enso House neighbor who owned cockatiels heard about the man and brought a bird for a visit. She set down the cockatiel on the man’s foot.

“This cockatiel stayed on his foot for the last days of his life,” Cutcher said. “From the cockatiel’s point of view, and the man’s, that was all right.”

Enso House doesn’t smell like a medical facility. Quite the opposite is true. People walk into a welcoming warm environment when entering the home. It doesn’t resemble a medical institution. In fact it feels like you are walking into someone’s living room.

The nurses and caretakers don’t look like medical personnel, either, but like people with a cup of tea ready and friendly words on their lips.

Many staff members are affiliated with the nearby Tahoma One Drop Zen Monastery, founded in 1995 by Zen Master Shodo Harada Roshi.

Enso House was founded in 2001 as a result of Roshi’s vision of a home for the dying where the qualities of humility, service, compassion, forgiveness deepen in those both giving and receiving care. The house and its vision has since grown and drawn circles in the community. People of all religious and spiritual traditions are welcomed and supported. The intention is to enable each individual to live the time remaining to them with grace and dignity and with full opportunity for inner healing, growth and completion.

“We love Enso House so much because it is what dying should be about,” MacGregor said.

She added that in mainstream healthcare it isn’t possible to cater to the dying in the way Enso House does.

“This is what dying should be,” she said. “It changes how people experience death. Make it a celebration of life.”

Many people diagnosed with a terminal illness are unable to afford 24-hour care at home and have no choice but to be placed in a nursing home or hospital. Enso House has a fund for those who can’t afford the fee.

Usually, the cost of basic care at Enso House is $145 per day. Private and government insurance reimbursements are accepted. Cost of medications and medical services are not covered by Enso House.

Enso House is able to offer its services at that price due to generous donations and community support. Also, they are able to keep costs low.

“All staff is essentially volunteers,” Cutcher said.

Core caregivers get room and board and a small stipend. Because the property is owned by an Enso House supporter and leased to Enso House at a very low price, there aren’t any worries about rent or mortgage payments.

This approach to end-of-life care draws the community and families of people who died at Enso House to the organization.

“This space, this home, has become a sacred place for volunteers. They feel and share very deeply,” MacGregor said.

A doctor from California became aware of Enso House during his honeymoon on Whidbey Island and has since come back every year for a week to volunteer. Not as a doctor, but a handyman, Cutcher said.

Families also get attached.

“Families stay involved,” she said. “Just the other day a box of lemons arrived from Santa Barbara from the backyard of a family member.”

She said another guest’s daughters started making scrapbook journals for the guests.

Whidbey Island’s Enso House has inspired others to carry the vision beyond Whidbey. Two nurses in Port Townsend are developing a similar service and one nurse in Hawaii is modeling end-of-life services from Enso House.

“It’s inspiring to see people bring this concept to their communities,” Cutcher said.

Michaela Marx Wheatley can be reached at 221-5300 or mmarxwheatley@southwhidbeyrecord.com.