Death Cafe write-ups
The room at the Charles F. Snyder Funeral Home on Lititz Pike was alive with simultaneous conversations from the people who came to the Death Cafe.
Two dozen people came together to share cake, coffee, tea and their thoughts about life, death and dying. Some knew one another, though most really matched the international Death Cafe's descriptive: the Death Cafe is a place where "people, often,strangers, gather to eat cake, drink tea and discuss death."
For just under two hours, that is exactly what happened.
We want to thank everyone who attended and the entire family of staff at the Charles F. Snyder Funeral Home ...
Birkenfeld Death Cafe Write up
Posted by Café Mortalitee on May 21, 2018, 6:40 a.m.
Gespräche über Sterben, Tod und Trauer.
Death Cafe DFW Texas Write up
Posted by End of Life North Texas on May 20, 2018, 7:57 p.m.
Rain can’t stop the Death Cafe!
End of Life North Texas hosted their first event today, and the turn out was excellent. Nine of us chatted easily for two hours about all things death and dying. The mood was upbeat and friendly, and we are looking forward to hosting many more. At the next we plan to implement our Death Library, so watch for our posting if you want to take part.
Hornchurch High Street Death Cafe Write up
Posted by Gemma Norburn on May 19, 2018, 4:46 a.m.
The first Death Cafe in Hornchurch was a great success! I had booked a table for 8 expecting no more than that, but 16 people came along to share their thoughts and ideas with us. We began by introducing ourselves and starting the conversation off. We covered natural burial woodland, will making, online personas after death and talking to children about death and bearevement. I am so pleased that it was smooth, everyone was friendly and I’ve had some great feedback. We covered some serious topics but the conversation remained cheery and friendly between those who attended.
This has definitely encouraged me to want to make this ...
Death Cafe Iowa - May Write up
Posted by DeathCafeIowa on May 17, 2018, 12:46 p.m.
It will come as no surprise that our 2018 May Death Café was another wonderful event! We had 11 people participating, including three first-timers. Our topics this month included:
Being the person to ask “How was the funeral?”
Diane’s “Dead Spread” Pinterest board
Creating a “Death Box”, which includes things like pictures you would like used at your funeral, your obituary, list of favorite things, list of things NOT wanted, who to notify (and not notify) when you die
Several people in the group have read and recommended Being Mortal, which also has a documentary by the same name.
TED talks about obituaries
Running out of cemetery ...
Death Cafe Bristol Write up
Posted by MaryTutaev on May 16, 2018, 7:42 p.m.
A beautiful sunny day and our first meeting held at Arnos Vale Cemetery...a fascinating historical and cultural Victorian Cemetery combining with lots of exciting events.A vibrant and sensitive group of people met,familiar faces and some new people all wanting to explore and share ideas...Time flew by and as always fascinating topics were explored....The mood though sometimes reflective is never heavy and the Cake is superb! Heres to our next one in June!
D'Eynsford Death Cafe, Camberwell Write up
Posted by katedamiral on May 15, 2018, 2:07 p.m.
Our second cafe only had two participants but we still had an interesting conversation! We explored: hospital clinician attitudes towards palliative care, feelings of guilt about deaths which weren't seen as 'good' deaths, what a good death might be, and the role of religion in the process of dying.
The cafe was described as gentle, safe, ambient and giving recognition. The person completing the evaluation form appreciated the fact that it ended up being a one-to-one conversation as English wasn't their first language. They also fed back that before the cafe, they thought a good death wasn't achieveable but the event changed their mind.
Death Cafe Iowa - April Write up
Posted by DeathCafeIowa on May 14, 2018, 3:13 p.m.
Our Death Café was a great one in April!!! We had 4 new people join us for the first time, three of which were students who were participating for extra credit in a Death as a Part of Life class through Iowa State University.
As is often the case when we have new people in our group, part of the conversation revolved around grief and how to approach it in our own lives as well as how to talk to grieving people. We discussed using the concrete word ‘DIED’, especially with children, grief platitudes and telling grievers how to feel, being grief-shamed, and secondary losses. We also talked ...
Highland Community College Death Cafe Write up
Posted by juliehartmanlinck on May 14, 2018, 1:53 p.m.
Our Death Cafe was successful. We had 25 people in attendance and although most were traditional-aged students we had faculty and community members in attendance as well. The event lasted approximately 1 hour and feedback on the evaluation form was positive.
We also had positive press coverage:
http://www.journalstandard.com/news/20180508/highland-community-college-students-host-death-cafe
Well attended and a great group! No lull in the conversations ~ just a really enjoyable evening. Thanks to the Hobbit House!
As we set the tables the feeling of trepditation grew, who would turn up, what would they be like and more importantly would there be enough cake. Fortunately a bunch of very friendly people turned up, full of a willingness to talk and were soon full of cake. In all there were 22 of us gathered at The Vicarage Farm Community Centre, Grafton Close. The next Cafe is already planned for the 15th June at 7:30 - 9pm. Please come along and join in the conversation.
Chambana Death Cafe April 28, 2018 Write up
Posted by Sherry Gilles on May 8, 2018, 10:16 a.m.
This death cafe was held at the Unity Church and spiritual Center. There were five of us and one person was new.
Conversations about funerals people had attended in their lives were shared and discussed. There was acknowledgement that the dreary dead time was passing and Spring was on the way.
One participant was celebrating humour month and regaled us with words and phrases common in US English that have come about, over time, with death in the title.
She was also kind enough to bring the cake.
We would have had more attendees had we made sure nothing big was going on in town. Our death cafe ...
Impermanence is what life is all about and we often have to learn to acknowledge and appreciate for whatever comes our way. As opposed to 23 attendees last time we had 9 very enthusiatic individuals who were all fired up to talk about Life and Death.
Thoughtful and profound conversations unfolded and many were so thankful to have this opportunitt to speak their heart out to complete strangers.
Its amazing how we seek for good listeners who will not judge us for our emotions, feelings and opinions. This is truly a safe place to talk our heart out !!!
Belleville, IL Death Cafe Write up
Posted by maggietribout on May 1, 2018, 10:39 a.m.
Belleville Death Café Summary 4202018
The summary for this meeting contains information about Grief Coaching, Grief Recovery, and Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs. Our discussions were varied and since there were only a few of us, conversation was guided more than usual and we ended discussion about 30 minutes earlier than normal. The information is by no means, legal advice and should only be used for educational purposes. That is fitting considering the purpose behind the Death Café is to educate individuals about death to dispel avoiding or fearing aspects of death. When that happens, one can then proceed with living. Death is as natural and inevitable as ...
Vancouver Death Cafe Write up
Posted by Janet Rivers on April 27, 2018, 3:13 p.m.
Another interesting evening with 11 in attendence and good conversation.