Death Cafe - Millerton NY
A write up of Death Cafe - Millerton NY
Death Cafe Millerton, NY
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Another great turn out for our September Death Cafe, this time held at Irving Farm Coffee House. There were several returnees from our first Death Cafe and we were delighted to see them back. This time mostly women, ages ranging from 40's to 80's from all walks of life, mostly from the surrounding area towns. 15 in total all very interested and interesting people.
Upon arrival our guests chose a table and place to sit, they put on name tags and filled out the sign in sheets. At 6:40 Suzanne took a few moments to make introductions and welcome and thank everyone, then gave a brief history/overview of the Death Cafe.
We went around the room and our guests introduced themselves and said where they were from.
Each table had a "menu" that looked like this, to help us keep the evening focused and on track.
DEATH CAFE
A place where people come together in a relaxed and safe setting to discuss death, dying, end of life issues, drink tea and eat delicious cake.
Facilitator: Suzanne B. O'Brien, RN,
Huge Thanks to Kathy Shapiro at
Irving Farm Coffee House for the use of the CAFE space
MENU
6:30 Meet and Greet - make up your name tag
Find your table, we encourage you to meet new people, sit with someone you may not know.
Delicious cake and water to share on your tables... or order something you'd like
6:35 Welcome, intros and history by Suzanne
6:40 Topic for the evening
1A. "Before I die I want to____________________ Fill in the blank
Table discussion ...how did you come to your answer?
1B. What is preventing you from making 1A happen?
Table discussion
Please be mindful of our time together and give each person time to share
7:00 BREAK
7:05 Group Share led by Suzanne (if you would like to share, not mandatory)
8:00 Q &A
8:15 Evaluation Forms this really helps us continually improve the event BOTH SIDES PLEASE
8:20 Community Building please get to know and network with others as the group changes each time.
8:30 End of Event
NEXT DEATH CAFE THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17 SIGN UP NOW SPACE LIMITED
The table work topic PART A brought up much discussion from completing bucket lists to being less fearful, from having things in place for family to being ready to face death with dignity and from writing memoires to wanting to paint. The room quickly filled with conversation.
PART B however required a bit more thought and emotion. This is where it was wonderful and eye opening to hear how others approached this challenge. Some were not ready, some had time constraints, some faced physical, emotional and/or financial roadblocks. Some of us learned things from each other. Some felt a sense of relief, freedom to be able to discuss things with other like minded folks. There was a real sense of compassion.
Nearly everyone wanted to participate when it came time for the Group Share. This was done table by table, and gave each person the opportunity to contribute and hear other perspectives. It helped create a feeling of community, one in which we were all respected and where there was genuine interest in others' stories and experiences.
There was time for Q&A and networking and mingling.
Evaluations were circulated for completion.
It was encouraging to find (from the evaluations) that everyone rated the event as "excellent" with one "good", that they were glad they had attended and would recommend us to others.
Some of the words that were used to describe the Death Cafe experience....
comfortable, informational/informative, enlightening, fascinating, supportive, thought- provoking, warm, friendly, relaxed and open.
We are looking forward to our next Death Cafe-Millerton, NY
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17 6:30-8:30
Irving Farm Coffee House
860 605 0330 to reserve your space.