Notes from Orange County Death Café, March 6, 2025
A write up of Orange County NC Death Cafe - March 6, 2025
By Endswell
Notes from Orange County Death Café, March 6, 2025
Moderator: James McKelvey
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
There are now 7 Death Cafes in Durham and Orange counties:
• 1st Thursday of the month, 6:00-8:00 p.m.: Orange County Death Café, Endswell FH, 407 Meadowlands Dr., Hillsborough, facilitator James McKelvey. Registration at https://endswellfuneralhome.com/news-and-events/
• 2nd Monday of the month, 5:45-7:45 p.m.: Hillsborough Death Café, 903 Eno Street, Hillsborough, facilitated by Neidra Clark. To register contact Neidra at neidra@mindspring.com.
• 2nd Saturday of the month, 3-5 p.m.: Death Café Noir at the Stanford Warren Library, 1201 Fayetteville St., Durham, facilitated by Traci Hathaway. No need to register.
• 3rd Monday of the month, 9:30-11:00 a.m.: Daylight Death Café, Seymour Center, Chapel Hill, facilitated by John Chase. To register contact the Seymour Center front desk, 919-968-2070.
• 3rd Wednesday of the month, 6:00-8:00 p.m.: Orange County Death Café, Endswell FH, 407 Meadowlands Dr., Hillsborough, facilitated by Sara Williams. Registration at https://endswellfuneralhome.com/news-and-events/
• 4th Monday of the month, 5:30-7:30 p.m.: Southwest Durham Death Café, Southwest Regional Library, Shannon Road, Durham, facilitated by Kathy Rudy, Ph.D. No registration needed.
• 4th Thursday of the month, 1:30-3 p.m., LGBTQ+ Death Café, facilitated by Tsyr Han Chow. No registration needed at this time
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Endswell Information Sessions are now regularly scheduled for the 3rd Thursday of the month. For more information, please call 919-907-9777.
EOL Planning Workshop with Clarity Legal Group, Endswell, April 5th, 10-12. To register, go to https://endswellfuneralhome.com/calendar/end-of-life-planning-workshop-april-5-2025/#rsvp-now.
Save the Date: April 8th, the first in a monthly series of movies and speakers to be held at Endswell, 6:30-? Our first speaker will be a medical examiner.
Funeral Consumers Alliance National Conference will be in the RTP region, June 26-29. Themes are Funeral Poverty and Indigent Burial.
CONVERSATIONS:
· Coping with despair under the current assaults of dangerous illness, politics, and the everyday catastrophes (large and small) of being human. “The world is in trouble and maybe I should give up,” “Go to that small group of weird people” (David Brooks?), “Focus on the local community, not Washington,” “Write down 5 things that scare you and check back with the list at a later date. Did those scary things happen as you feared?,” “Laugh the (musical) scale,” “Consider what you want on your last day and do it now,” “Pain is inevitable but suffering is optional.”
· If an Alamance County EMS comes to your rescue, they have to take you to Alamance Regional Hospital unless you are under treatment at another facility.
· Difference between a Nurse Practitioner and a Physician Assistant: NPs are trained under a nursing model and are therefore patient- focused. PAs are trained under a physician model and are therefore disease-focused.
RESOURCES:
Websites:
Alpha-Gal Syndrome: https://alphagalinformation.org/
There are many alpha-gal podcasts on-line. Google alpha-gal podcasts. The RadioLab podcast mentioned in the meeting (Return of Alpha Gal) appears to be behind a paywall.
*****
From “A Brief for The Defense by Jack Gilbert”
We can do without pleasure,
but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have
the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless
furnace of this world.
Benediction
The Incredible String Band (not Thomas Traherne)
May the longtime sun shine upon you
All love surround you
And the pure light within you
Guide your way on.