Death Cafe write-ups
February Online Death Cafe CST Write up
Posted by DeathCafeIowa on Feb. 22, 2022, 10:41 a.m. 1 comment
For our February Death Café Iowa, we met via Zoom and Buffy Peters from the Bereavement Professionals Group facilitated. We had a group of eight individuals. Some joined from Iowa, California, Connecticut, and even Vancouver, Canada.
Our group’s conversation was mainly about preplanning, life as an elder, and supporting elders. As far as preplanning goes, we talked about the need to build a community of support because you just never know when you will need that community. Life is short. We talked about how difficult it can be to ask for help though when trying to build this community. In Western cultures, independence is valued, but in ...
Online Death Cafe Cymru BST Write up
Posted by Sarah Hillcoat on Feb. 13, 2022, 11:12 a.m.
This was our sixth Online Death Café Cymru and we were pleased to welcome both new and returning guests.
Both the role of the unpaid carer and grieving under the pandemic featured heavily in the conversation this time.
Among other things, we touched on: Covid lockdown and its impact on funerals, isolation, delayed grief and the role of community in mourning; grief as a manifestation of love; childhood, children, death and funerals; the comfort of ritual and recognising the circle of life; assisted dying; the need for death education; hope for change in our attitudes towards dying and death in the UK through the recent Lancet report The ...
Tucson Online MST Friendly & Fearless Death Cafe Write up
Posted by TucsonFFDeathCafe on Feb. 13, 2022, 10:03 a.m.
Your heart shatters into a million pieces before you can even exhale. A beautiful stranger has just told you she has an especially aggressive disease and may be nearing her last options. She looks barely twenty. She adds, “I have four young children.”
Your best friend tells you her husband has a rare debilitating condition. Walking is now difficult. It’s genetic. Their adult children, some starting families, haven’t been told.
The house at the end of your street is oddly still. The family you’ve known for years vanished. Covid.
A new acquaintance shares she has a plan to avoid a sad, slow end, a potential ...
Belper Death Cafe Write up
Posted by katedamiral on Jan. 30, 2022, 8:53 a.m.
Twelve people attended this cafe and we managed to have a good conversation as one group even wearing masks.
Themes explored included: the urge to tidy up your life before you die, reluctance to face the inevitability of death - and how to recognise when you are ready, the role of professionals both before and after a death and the important role they should play in supporting loved ones who want to be involved, different cultural attitudes towards grieving and the value of a good cry.
People also shared a range of recommended reads including:
- the novel All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West
- The Wild Edge of Sorrow - Rituals ...
What questions do you have about death and dying? What fears? Here’s your chance to air it all out!
Death Cafés are a part of a global movement to provide a relaxed and nurturing setting where you can join open, honest, agenda-free discussions to explore the questions you may have about life, dying, and grief. The objective of a death cafe is to increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives. This is not a therapy or a grief group. For more information, visit deathcafe.com. Hosted by the UUFF Care Team, and facilitated by Renée ...
Tucson Online MST Friendly & Fearless Death Cafe Write up
Posted by TucsonFFDeathCafe on Jan. 23, 2022, 11:50 a.m.
Death customs across the globe vary but also share many elements. The story of a father’s send off in Thailand was shared at Cafe this week. On the third day of community ritual a pickup truck carried the casket and a large photo of the deceased and paraded slowly through the town on the way to the crematorium. All the villagers came out to line the streets, including mother’s with babes in arms, whether familiar with the person or not, to do the very important life ritual of seeing off the dead. Some of us thought this was a lovely idea and would wish the same ...
January Online Death Cafe Iowa CST Write up
Posted by DeathCafeIowa on Jan. 20, 2022, 2:35 p.m.
For our January Death Café Iowa, we met via Zoom. Buffy Peters from the Bereavement Professionals Group and Jennifer Leatherby from the Iowa Death Collective facilitated the group. We had a group of seven individuals. Most were joining from Iowa, but we also had individuals join us from the West and East coasts.
We began our group by talking about tragedy and the responses to tragedy by individuals and the community. Depending on the tragedy that occurred, we talked about how it’s easy to want to blame the incident on something, but why? The person that died in the incident is a person loved by someone, so ...
December Online Death Cafe CST Write up
Posted by DeathCafeIowa on Jan. 18, 2022, 10:59 a.m.
For our December Death Café Iowa, we met via Zoom. Buffy Peters from the Bereavement Professionals Group facilitated the group. We had a group of eight individuals for December’s Death Café. There were individual’s from out-of-state and in-state joining in on our conversation.
This month’s discussion centered around the holidays and how death and grief affects the holiday experience. Some individual’s talked about creating new traditions to honor their loved one(s) throughout the holidays. One individual shared that her family had tried to create a new tradition the previous year, but it didn’t serve its purpose, so she had to try something ...
Online Death Cafe Cymru BST Write up
Posted by Sarah Hillcoat on Jan. 17, 2022, 8:07 a.m.
This was our fifth Online Death Café Cymru and, as before, we were pleased to welcome some old and some new faces.
The conversation was wide-ranging this time round. They touched on several topics, with a particular emphasis on the material aspects of end of life and dying. They included: 1) finding the right words to comfort the bereaved; 2) options for what should happen to our bodies when we die; 3) creativity, in particular the role of storytelling in dementia care; 4) photographs as a link between generations; 5) possessions as clutter or treasure, and as a manifestation of our legacies; 6) putting our affairs in order ...
Death Cafe Tunbridge Wells Online GMT Write up
Posted by carmeldunmall on Jan. 10, 2022, 2:27 a.m.
7 of us discussed many aspects of death, dying and bereavement. There was an openess within the group to go where the discussion led.
Online Death Cafe Iowa CST November Write up
Posted by DeathCafeIowa on Jan. 5, 2022, 1:05 p.m.
There were four individuals who attended our Death Café in November. The group talked about a variety of topics, the first being do not resuscitate (DNR) orders. Individuals talked about the different types of DNRs in Iowa and the forms to fill out to have your DNR request honored. Iowalegalaid.org was mentioned as a good resource for DNR forms.
One individual mentioned that they had been to a dying expo and shared their experience at that event. Medical assistance in dying in relation to the Iowa legislation was discussed, and it was mentioned that the Hospice association has been lobbying against medically assisted death. Palliative care was ...
We welcomed a few regular attendees and many new arrivals. Zoomed in from around US and UK. Deep listening as we shared our questions, joys, concerns and experiences. An atmosphere of care and respect. We spoke of living more fully as we respond to awareness of our mortality. Some laughter and tears. Prep of Advance Directives, End of life wishes, MAID, grieving, and what do we want to leave. We gather again the 4th Sunday of the month, Jan 23, 2022. Grateful to our Death Cafe Founder. Join with your support. https://www.patreon.com/deathcafe
Online Death Cafe Cymru BST Write up
Posted by Sarah Hillcoat on Dec. 20, 2021, 7:52 a.m.
This was the fourth Online Death Café Cymru. We were pleased to welcome some new participants and to welcome back some familiar ones. The international composition of the group was again enriching, as it has been previously.
The focus this time was mainly on end-of-life experiences, from the perspective of both carers and of the person dying. Their respective needs, wishes and choices at this intimate and precious time were discussed, as was the potentially important role of the death doula or end-of-life companion.
Participants found this session inspirational and commented that they had learned from listening to other people’s stories.
We shall be posting 2022 dates ...
Death Cafe Write up
Posted by mj_dananas on Dec. 11, 2021, 6:48 p.m.
Hi,
This is a virtual Death Cafe hosted via Discord. As your host, I am based in British Columbia, Canada on Pacific Standard Time. This is our first Death Cafe hosted on the BC Support Server. Please click on this invite link to join:
https://discord.gg/VMRK4Qk
Thank you for reading.
Lori Goldwyn and Jim Kirkpatrick hosted this Cafe, welcoming participants from Australia, New Orleans, East Coast and the SF Bay Area. We randomly broke our group into rooms with 8 people. Laughter and tears and satisfaction. A first Death Cafe for a few participants Most found us via our sponsor Jewish Gateways and others word of mouth. Sharing, caring and deep listening, leaving space for silence and for all to speak. We spoke of loving someone who is dying, grieving, end of life planning with a parent, living wakes, planning our own memorial, ethical wakes and ethical wills. Handling the "things" of the deceased loved one. We will ...