ABQ Death Cafe Report
A write up of Albuquerque Death Cafe
At yesterday’s Albuquerque Death Cafe, held at Sheila’s Sweets, seven people joined host Gail Rubin for a wide-ranging conversation. Mascot Lola (pictured), presided at the end of the table.
Topics discussed included this past week’s courtroom consideration of New Mexico’s laws regarding physician aid-in-dying. The judge in the case heard arguments whether it will hold doctors liable under the state’s current rules on physician-assisted suicide. Is providing medication to a patient with a terminal illness relieving suffering or helping someone commit suicide?
As with all discussion of Death Cafe topics, it’s up to the individual to decide.
We talked about green burial and heard a lovely story of one woman’s brother’s funeral. We discussed how older individuals who have no family to rely upon can find local help for making their final arrangements.
We pondered the “blue wave of death” phenomenon, a scientific study of death in microscopic worms. The blue death fluorescence travels from cell to cell as the worm dies. The finding applies only to worms, but it could be a step toward gaining a better scientific understanding of the death process in humans.
And we discussed the question, “Is death a wall or a window?” When you die, is that all there is (as in hitting a wall)? Or is there a transition to something else beyond this physical lifetime (going through a window)?