Write up of the first Death Cafe in NYC

Success! We were excited to have 10 guests at our first café. It was a varied group of professionals, plus my two adult children! Gotta love those kids! The guests were from varied professional backgrounds making for interesting points of view. Among our guests were a physician, a Unitarian minister, a massage therapist, a prescriptive artist and two funeral directors! Thanks guys!

We started a bit after the hour. I forgot New Yorkers are rarely on time! LOL! We sat at a farm table and divided up into small interactive groups of four for conversations. It was a relaxed and informal venue. I sat in with each group and both listened and contributed to the varied discussions. Topics discussed were; individual experiences with personal loss through death, the new DSM 5 changes on bereavement, returning to the workplace after a death, the death of a less than loved one and the death of family pets. Everyone contributed. 

It was fun! Can discussion on death be fun? Comments on the evaluation sheets were positive however, the acoustics of the location were challenging to some, including me. It was much quieter when I first visited! Perhaps a different location for our March café?

Words used to describe the evening were: positive, friendly, illuminating, educational, warm, revealing, comfortable, fun, relieving, casual and informative. The conversations were all on point and it was so inspiring to hear folks supporting the importance of addressing death and our fears around it both societal and personal.

I liked the casualness of the event and the ease of conversation rather than the platform of a support group. Several guests had anticipated a more formal led discussion group, but were happily surprised at the casual and easy atmosphere. As it went well, we’ll stick with this format, for now. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

NYC Death Café #2 coming Wednesday, March 20th. Location to be determined!

Best,

Audrey and Laura