Death Cafe - Millerton, NY
A write up of Death Cafe - Millerton, NY
By ljoy
Death Cafe Millerton, NY
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Death Cafe - Millerton at Irving Farm Coffee House. A dozen of us made up tonight's community. Many familiar faces and several new friends were welcomed. Each guest had their own reasons for attending.
Suzanne O'Brien, our facilitator, greeted everyone and gave a brief overview/background about the Death Cafe.
Our hope for the Death Cafe Millerton, NY is
- to create a cozy, safe and inviting space that encourages people to get to know each other and share their thoughts and feelings about the end of life.
- to offer small intimate table groups that allow everyone an opportunity to speak, a chance to be heard, and time to ask questions or share stories.
- for respect, for all ideas, in a neutral / non-judgmental environment
- that our guests leave with something of value to them... be that comfort, understanding, relief, sharing, joy, fellowship, cake and a chance to discuss death and end of life issues.
Table discussions began, beverages and cake were enjoyed and though-provoking conversations followed.
During the Group Share, some very personal and sensitive experiences were shared. Many of our guests had in some way cared for someone at the end of their life. Each situation was unique, from those being cared for in a hospital to those at the end of life at home with family members present. As with the experience and preparation for birth, we gain an understanding of how important it is to help prepare for death and respect the wishes of the person (not ours or the family members) at the end of their life. The individual stories were very powerful. And through these stories, we, as a community, learn the ways we can offer help to our friends and neighbors at the end of life.
...from the evaluations...
My feeling about attending the event.......
opened my mind to the "reality" of death
supportive of my thoughts
understanding "things" that need to be "in order"
reinforced my feelings about having my "directives" in place
words that described the Death Cafe experience
warm inclusive respectful honest informative
kind caring insightful educational comfortable quiet calm uplifting reassuring relaxing
loving knowledgeable passionate enlightening
exciting empowering eye-opening
Events to be held quarterly. Next Death Cafe = Millerton, NY to be announced.