Family Archives and More
A write up of Westport Death Cafe
By Val Lovelace
The thing i love the most about Death Cafe is that I never know what will come up and I find myself fascinated and delighted as topics arise.
Tonight we enjoyed fresh-baked oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies, coffee, tea, and discussions about old photographs, family keepsakes, estate planning, and learning how to keep living and reinventing oneself all the while aging.
A regular Death Cafe visitor talked about how she and her husband have been able to have richer, deeper conversations about their will and estate since attending Death Cafe, and have been talking with their daughter (who is their trustee and executrix).
Someone asked about natural burial versus cremation, and suddenly we're off to wondering about the environment, rituals people have for disposing of ashes, and what it is about the human race that calls us to leave a trace of ourselves - that we want someone to know we were here.
We talked about how quickly things can change in our lives, how people with no relatives, friends, or loved ones when they die (the film "A Certain Kind of Death"), which prompted a discussion about the importance of maintaining relationships, and THAT is what really matters in a life.
Talk drifted to wanting to know, in the end, that our lives mattered to someone in some way. We aren't all here to be kings and presidents, but we want to know we've made a difference.
It was a wonderful evening filled with reflection, meaning-making, and personal wisdom and insight.
Please come join us next month - no telling what conversations will arise!