Death Cafe at the Buzz Cafe
A write up of Death Cafe in Chicago
By allenm1043
We had a dozen people show up for this first Death Cafe in Oak Park, Illinois.
The Buzz Cafe is a well established local place with great community involvement. They offer the use of space on the second floor (which used to be the owners living quarters) to community groups. They have a web site and a printed monthly newsletter which are used to publicise events.
I bought a dozen gourmet cookies from the Buzz and brought a couple of bottles of wine from home. (With permission.)
We provided name tags and started the event with, "Let's have a quick go-around. Say your first name and what brought you here tonight."
After that I said, "We all have thoughts and feelings on many topics. The topic for tonight is death. Who would like to start by sharing their thoughts and/or feelings?"
After an hour and a half of good discussion I ended by saying, "To wrap up the evening let's go around the room one last time. Please say what struck you most tonight."
We handed out feedback sheets that asked: 1) How would you rate the content of the program? 2) How would you rate the presenter? 3) How would you rate the facilities? Then had space for 4) How could we make any of it better? 5) What future topics would you suggest?
The feedback was positive with lots of 4's and 5's on a scale of 5.
Comments
I think it would be important to have a facilitator for the meeting, to be sure everyone has an opportunity to participate in the discussions.
Birth and death are such integral parts of the human experience. Connecting with others who share concerns, wishes, and physical inevitability is so important.
Posted by Jonathan Kelly