Death Cafe write-ups
Virtual Death Cafe Albany, CA USA Write up
Posted by JimKirkpatrick on May 29, 2023, 11:41 a.m.
May 28th 2023 ten of us gathered in open hearted listening to our words and feelings about Death, Dying and beyond. We welcomed new attendees. We live on West and East of US and Canada. We plan to meet again June 25th. Grateful for our Death Cafe as I am lifted by our humanity in the space we created.
Death Cafe in Bellows Falls VT Write up
Posted by Denise Glover on May 18, 2023, 8:55 a.m.
Nine people joined us for a lively and far-ranging conversation around death, grief, and other topics. Some laughter and some tears. It was wonderful!
Charlton Public Library Death Cafe Write up
Posted by Kathleen Walker on May 18, 2023, 7:45 a.m.
Our first meeting was really great! We had eleven people in attendance and enjoyed an enightening conversation and yummy cake. We plan to meet again in a month and will rotate who brings the cake. We now have an email list and will stay in touch.
Online Death Cafe ADT Write up
Posted by Death Cafe Halifax Nova Scotia on May 14, 2023, 6:28 p.m.
As usual, we had multiple countries and multiple provinces represented on our Death Café this month – with long time participants and some first timers in our Zoom Room. The diversity of views is wonderful.
As always, reasons for participating and topics for discussion cover a lot of territory.
· A comment was made about death being sanitized and denied – many people are not exposed to death and may not have ever been to a funeral – how can we normalize the conversations and be more open to death?
o That is a common question for Death Cafes, and one of the reasons we exist – to normalize such discussions.
· An interesting ...
Moray Coast Death Cafe Write up
Posted by Katie Sharrock on May 12, 2023, 5:23 a.m.
This was first Death Cafe led by Katie & Juanna. A wonderful group of 22 people gathered, shared their stories, ate cake and drank tea in the warm surroundings of Elgin Library. Some of the closing words from participants included connection, love, peace, gratitude, heart-warm. We look forward to our next Cafe! Thank you everyone for your contributions, your donations to cover the room hire, and for your presence.
Death Cafe Dunedin (NZ) Write up
Posted by AnkesDeathCafe on May 11, 2023, 3:24 p.m.
This meeting saw 13 enthusiastic people rejoining. Most were repeat visitors and a few newcomers. We welcomed in particular a medical student who felt inspired by listening to those who might be looking on the other side of the fence of his services. He also shared new perspectives which kept the conversations very alive and interesting. Repeatedly I can see that one of the biggest issues in the conversations is the fear about legality around wishes at end of life being ignored or impossible to be reinforced. We feel we are seeing the beginning of a revolution around the choices for end of life. Death Cafe offers such ...
Death Cafe North Canterbury NZ Write up
Posted by Death Cafe North Canterbury, Aotearoa New Zealand on May 7, 2023, 9:30 p.m.
Death Café North Canterbury took place for the first time in Amberley last month (23.04.2023) with myself and Mark as your facilitators. We had a record number of bookings (ok, so we didn’t make double figures but hey, it’s early days!) We did set a small record though – we had more men than women this time.
The cake, chocolates, conversation, kōrero and sense of community was special, our themes traversed accepting ‘bad and sad’ news, palliative care options and end of life choice law and decision-making; looking back in time and how death was talked about (or not) in the past.
It was a ...
City of Roses Death Cafe Write up
Posted by nomenoyou1 on April 29, 2023, 11:41 p.m. 2 comments
City of Roses Death Café had a great first meeting at the Leaven Community center on a beautiful sunny day in NE Portland. There were 9 total community members in attendance -- all but one had never been to a Death Café before. Conversation flowed easily, connections were made, and there was plenty of tea and homemade desserts to go around. Discussion topics ranged from personal stories about impactful/meaningful deaths, how keeping death closeby informs how we want to live our lives, transmuting and alchemizing grief in the body, and much more.
We look forward to our next meeting on May 27th from 2pm-4pm at the community center.
Death Cafe Capitol Hill Write up
Posted by Laura Lyster-Mensh - HCC on April 17, 2023, 4:55 p.m.
The second Death Cafe of 2023 at Congressional Cemetery drew two dozen people on a gorgeous spring evening. We split the group as the numbers rose and half met in the chapel and half outdoors. Participants enjoyed sweet treats offered by Congressional Cemetery staff and baked goods from participants.
Both groups had lively conversation touching on: letting go of expectations of reconciliation and ways to find conciliation before and after death of a loved one with whom the relationship was challenging, having conversation about dying and death with family and friends who are reluctant to speak on the topic, suicide as an option for the terminally ill, the ...
We had a great first meeting with 7 people in attendance. Everyone participated in a lively, open discussion, and we are eager to continue talking together and supporting one another at our next meeting. Stay tuned.
Death Cafe North Canterbury NZ Write up
Posted by Death Cafe North Canterbury, Aotearoa New Zealand on April 12, 2023, 9:51 p.m.
We had our second Death Café in North Canterbury recently, this time in Rangiora library – and yes, I managed to not drop the cake this time...it was great….the cake and the korero! We had seven of us this week, we covered many themes – from how to talk to children about death and dying, to whether men and women deal with grief differently; to whether there is anything ‘beyond’ – any sense of an afterlife. It was a good hearty discussion which left us with a sense of sharing some of life’s deeper thoughts.
Onwards and upwards, see you in Amberley on 23rd April, 2pm,
Stay ...
Death Cafe Dunedin (NZ) Write up
Posted by AnkesDeathCafe on April 10, 2023, 2:56 p.m.
Heart-warming meeting with 15 people in attendance in our greatest little town in the Southern hemisphere with under 130,000 awesome people! Some others could not attend due to our timing of 10 am. A burning candle for the life light of the meeting.... Lots of laughter and a few tears too. People filled out evaluations and the general concensus was that it meets an overall need and that participants felt very comfortable and safe to talk and listened too. We will have the next one on 10th May.
Love Walk London Death Cafe Write up
Posted by annkenrick on April 10, 2023, 4:08 a.m.
A group of local strangers met recently to take part in Camberwell’s first Death Café motivated by a variety of reasons but sharing a common desire to talk openly about a subject that is important to us all but still relatively taboo. There was a lot of laughter, some wonderful periods of silence and a lot of practical and also profound conversation. There was also homemade apple cake to nourish us!
Asked to choose words at the end of the gathering to describe the café, participants said it was welcoming, thought provoking, supportive, positive, friendly, honest, safe, disinhibiting, helpful, clarifying, open, uplifting and revealing.
As one said ...
Huntly Death Cafe Write up
Posted by Huntly_Death_Cafe on April 10, 2023, 1:56 a.m.
I had been worried that no-one would turn up for our inaugural meeting so a friend agreed to come with me, just so I wouldn't be on my own.
As it was, the publicity worked and we were joined by four others, all with various degrees of curiosity and trepidation.
Tea and cake helped relax everyone as I explained what Death Cafe is and soon everyone was chatting and contributing to the discussion.
Having 'that's conversation with loved ones, reminiscences of older funeral customs and green burials were all touched on, among other things.
Next meeting is 10th April 2023 at Networks of Wellbeing from 1-3pm ...
Virtual Death Cafe EST Write up
Posted by suemannell on April 7, 2023, 8:16 a.m.
It has been three years of hosting Death Cafes online (thanks to Covid), and we are always delighted with the heart felt conversations shared and the wide range of topics discussed. Death touches everyone and so much of our experiences truly are universal.
Grief, rituals, pet loss, what to say to someone bereaved (and what not to say), stories of loss, future wishes, what makes a good death, saying goodbye, how we all grieve differently, expectations, questions posed, students joining to learn, folks from across the country and other countries, men and women, young through to seniors ..... life and death and everything in between and following is an ...