Death Cafe write-ups
14th Death Cafe at Cafe Rouge in Hampstead, London, UK Write up
Posted by Josefine Speyer on Aug. 6, 2014, 6:08 p.m. 2 comments
by Josefine Speyer
A lively evening, but less busy than expected. A demonstration in town and some difficulties on the underground may have made travelling for some people difficult. It was the anniversary of the 2 July London Bombings in 2005. I had invited two poets to read a short poem each. Only one was able to come. He read both poems to us at the start of the plenary.
The evening was in two halves: an intimate conversation around a small table for 1 ½ hours facilitated by a facilitator who also takes part in the conversation. A 25 minute break, followed by a 45 minute plenary. Ending ...
Death Cafe Birmingham Write up
Posted by carrieweekes on July 31, 2014, 10:40 a.m. 2 comments
It was probably the most beautiful, sunny and warm Sunday Birmingham has seen all year.
Would the prospect of spending a couple of hours talking about Death be enough to tempt our prospective attendees from their sun-baked gardens and Birmingham’s wonderful parks and into a City Centre pub? We wouldn’t have blamed them for finding excuses…
But they came! 25 wonderful and interesting strangers came with a desire to talk about Death. This was our first publicly advertised Death Café in Birmingham. And thanks to a wonderful venue who put us up free-of-charge (thevictoriabirmingham.co.uk), some lovely cake pops courtesy of Conjurerskitchen.com and some ...
Death Cafe Madison Write up
Posted by Willy Street: Madison Death Cafe on July 29, 2014, 12:14 p.m.
"I've always thought about death a lot", differences in families; some families don't talk about death or people in the family who have died, others often reminisce about family members who have died. Times have changed, everyone is busy and family members are spread out across the country, thus less time to come together to grieve. When people die at home, there is more time to accept and be together, now often, families are not with the person often when they die and everyone is so busy. Taking care of the property, funeral arrangements, etc) becomes another arrangement in the busy schedules.
Death Cafe in Montreal Write up
Posted by Kit Racette on July 28, 2014, 5:17 p.m.
On July 16, 25 people gathered together in Montreal for tea and coffee and cakes. Once more I was struck by how different each Death Cafe is. There is always the mixture of people who come because they have experienced the death of some one close. Then there are those who work in palliative care and I value their sharing of their accompanying the dying. And there are always those who are curious about their own death, some frightened and some wanting to face it in a conscious way. This time, once more, there was some one who shared their near death experience and we are all interested ...
Death Cafe Winnipeg Write up
Posted by Death Cafe Winnipeg on July 23, 2014, 12:31 p.m.
A lot of new faces at our most recent Cafe ! About 35 of us met to talk about faith, God, relationships, planning, grief, bucket lists and our constant companion..denial.
The evaluations were almost unanimous in commenting that 90 minutes was not long enough, with only one saying it was too long.
As always, the sharing was heartfelt and touching.
With so much death and destruction in the world this week, we pray for peace and comfort for all who are suffering.
The first Carmel Death Cafe was held on Sunday July 20, 2014! What a great group of people to meet. They were enthusiastic and grateful for one another; in fact, the "theme" in their evaluation comments was that they appreciated being with like-minded people who were willing to talk about death and dying. One even called it "fun" and another referred to it as a "fresh breath of openness". Love that!
Death Cafe Northumberland Write up
Posted by Northumberland on July 22, 2014, 8:17 a.m.
On June 24th Last Breath offered another opportunity for the Warkworth community to participate in a stimulating conversation about death and dying, We had 25 people attend and the feedback was that this event was interesting, informative and enlightening. There was a varied faith tradition background with this particular event which proved challenging at times for some of the participants. All in all a lively time had by all.
We are offering our next Cafe in Brighton Ontario in August and we hope there will be enough interest for people to attend during this time of year.
Columbus Death Cafe Write up
Posted by Columbus Death Cafe/Lizzy Miles on July 18, 2014, 2:40 p.m.
In the past two years not much has changed for the Columbus Death Cafe and yet everything has changed. The Columbus event is just as it was 2 years ago...but now we have a whole connected network of hosts around the country and around the world.
There was a smaller group this evening, but with Death Cafe conversations, smaller is sometimes better. The diversity of the attendee backgrounds and experiences always leads to an unpredictable conversation. One attendee had a background in processing death penalty cases, which he mentioned as he introduced himself. This led into a conversation about the recent ruling in California which deemed death ...
Longmont Death Cafe Write up
Posted by Jenn Matheson on July 16, 2014, 10:57 p.m.
Join us for the first Longmont Death Cafe. We'll discuss end of life issues with interested others. Dr. Jenn Matheson will be your facilitator and will encourage open and free discussion about whatever topics participants bring forward. Hope to see you there!
Denver Death Cafe June 2014 Write up
Posted by Anita Larson on July 15, 2014, 10:35 p.m. 1 comment
Denver Death Café Summary
June 22, 2014
Many thanks to Michael Long with Fairmount Mortuary & Cemetery (independently owned and operated) for hosting the June Denver Death Cafe for the 3rd time this year and providing refreshments.
The conversation started with a teacher whose life had been threatened by a student. The student was suspended, but what could she do now? There have been so many school shootings and what is being done? Lots of good dialogue erupted about death, fears, awareness and being proactive.
A first-time attendee from a whole body donation program participated in the discussion and answered inquiries about the differences between whole body donation ...
May Tucson Death Cafe Write up
Posted by tucsondeathcafe on July 15, 2014, 7:07 p.m.
MAY
Tucson Death Cafe met the evening of May 6. The crowd was a bit lighter than in months past. It's getting hot here and the time when winter residents are leaving and things are slowing down. Moe's was still plenty full, though, and its openness to the outdoors is a nice feature for circulation, both for people and fresh air. Tonight, as we began going around the room making introductions someone asked who, rather than what, brought us here. This could be taken literally or figuratively. Many folks chose to respond, and the question and the process fostered introspection, remembrance, and gratitude. Some observed there ...
Death Cafe of Metro Denver Write up
Posted by Death Cafe Metro Denver on July 12, 2014, 3:51 p.m.
This write up has been deleted.
Taos Death Cafe Write up
Posted by Taos Death Cafe on July 11, 2014, 6:39 p.m. 1 comment
Death Café in Taos, New Mexico is still going strong, although I've been slacking in the update department. We had one in April which more or less marked our one year anniversary, and then one in June. Both of these – in fact ALL our Death Cafés – were well attended. As usual, we had to put out more chairs than anticipated. We really should know better by now!
One interesting item that came up at our June Death Café was a request from one of the attendees for “homework.” We've found that many people are attending because they feel the need to get their end-of-life wishes ...
Death Cafe at Gertrude Contemporary Write up
Posted by Annie Whitlocke on July 8, 2014, 11:14 p.m.
The Citizen
Friday 27 June 2014
On death and dying and the Death Cafe
Words and pictures by Danielle Kutchel
People are talking about death over a cuppa. But it’s not all doom and gloom, writes Danielle Kutchel.
On a sunny afternoon in Fitzroy, up three steep and rickety flights of stairs, an unlikely group of people meet in a whitewashed studio room overlooking busy Gertrude Street.
There are people from all walks of life here; Buddhists, mixing with atheists and sceptics, sharing cakes and cups of tea. Though disparate in background and outlook, they are united by a reality that confronts ultimately all creatures — death. And ...
Death Cafe Louisville Write up
Posted by Justin Magnuson on July 7, 2014, 12:47 p.m.
This was the second death cafe hosted at Rainbow Blossom and it's so surprising how different the conversation was from the first one. There were 15 people in attendance, so we split into two groups, I thought the arrangement worked well, but the accoustics of the room were challenging with two groups.
The group I facilitated talked about everything from being with the actively dying, grief, laughing at funerals, to what we would want our funeral to be like. The other group was facilitated by a participant of the last cafe, Karen. She reported a positive experience and a lively discussion as well.
One of the participants ...