June 2023 Write Up
A write up of Virtual Death Cafe Iowa
For our June Death Café Iowa, we met via Zoom with facilitator, Buffy Peters, from Hamilton’s Academy of Grief and Loss. Four individuals attended the Death Café this month which made for a small and intimate group.
One member had recently been to a child’s funeral and brought many questions to the group conversation in regards to younger age deaths. We talked about the uncertainty of death and how a child’s death can make us rethink our own expectations of death especially the time frame in which death is “supposed” to happen.
In the case of our member who recently experienced a child’s funeral, coming up with ways to support surviving parents and siblings can be difficult. Society has set many expectations as to what a funeral should look like and how others should act around those who are grieving significant losses. Some of the ways we came up with to best support grieving families with young children included; offering specific help instead of asking how you can help them, bringing up the child’s name, and to not rely on the “I cannot even imagine” statement.
With June being Pride Month, one member also discussed the importance of advanced planning for members of the LGBTQ+ community. By planning in advance, one is able to determine who will be allowed to best carry out their wishes after they have died.