Write up of Death Cafe in North Kingstown, Rhode Island with John Eastman, Ginny Eastman and Tony Silbert

By John Eastman

Today we held the first Death Cafe in Rhode Island. Eighteen people came out to The Hive in North Kingstown at 2:00 PM to eat calzones and delicious cake, drink tea and coffee and talk in an intimate setting about Death. And then we talked about Life. The two hours we set aside flew by and it was 4:00 PM before we knew it.

Everyone did really, really well and there was a lot of laughter as well as some poignant moments. People were very open about their fears and concerns and were politely listened to as Tony Silbert facilitated the group with love and understanding. Funny thing is; I brought two boxes of tissues and not one was used.

The evaluations and verbal feedback by the participants was very positive so there will be more Death Cafes in SORI in the future. One of the questions on the evaluation was, "if someone told you they were thinking of attending a Death Cafe what would you say to them?" Answers such as "go", "try it, you'll like it", "come with me" and "go for it" were expressed.

Remember, the objective of Death Cafe is "To increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives".

We will keep you in the loop for the next Death Cafe.