Highcliffe Death Cafe
A write up of Highcliffe Death Cafe
By Lis Horwich
Our March evening Café could welcome new members who inspired to a very lively discussion about death, meditation, Liverpool Care Pathway, staying with the dying or does the dying need to be left alone? A social worker among us has often been the only person for the dying as no relatives were to be found – such a privileged. One of us has listened to Youtube: “Gone from My Sight” where Barbara Karnes from Heartland Hospice in the US talks about discovering grief, loss, and the dying experience. So much to learn from this talk as Babara sits with the dying and has a unique way of talking with the dying.
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Barbara is my mother-in-law. In the 80's, when Hospice was in it's very early stages, Barbara helped countless AIDS victims die when no one else wanted to be near them. I watched how she cared for her own mother, at home, in the last months of her mother's life. I also watched her say, "No thank you" to her mother's pastor when he assumed he'd preside over her mother's funeral. Barbara, her kids and her sister put together a funeral like I'd never seen before. A celebration that honored her mother in non-traditional, yet extremely personal ways. It was how I'd like my "funeral service" to happen.
My mother-in-law is remarkable.
Posted by julia karnes