Death Cafe in Summertown

I had never heard of Death Cafe's until very recently. Yesterday I went to one in Summertown. Take a look at the following links.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-25580275
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/mar/22/death-cafe-talk-about-dying

There were 9 of us and a facilitator called Claire. We covered the whole age spectrum from 20's to 70's.  Some had travelled from as far afield as London. I was just 5 minutes away. Some of the participants knew each other, others didn't. None had been to a Death Cafe before. It lasted for an hour and a half.

In that time we all talked about death - the death of someone we knew & loved, or the fact that we all have to face our own mortality. It was interesting, uplifting, sad, but also often very funny. In that short space of time we shared things about ourselves that we all admitted we had never been able to talk to anyone else about before.

The British don't do death.

It is a subject that is rarely discussed. When it touches you, and it will, you will discover how hard that is. People don't want to talk about death & grief. Children are not brought up to understand that death is a natural part of life. They are all too often excluded from the whole process. No wonder we all have our knickers in a twist about dying.

We all agreed that we aren't afraid of dying itself. What we are afraid of is the process - Dying in pain, dying over a long period of time, dying alone, dying without saying a proper goodbye to friends and family, dying before we are ready.

Death is a reality for everyone. What a relief to be able to talk to other people about it and listen to their stories.

Death Cafe's - what a brilliant idea. I hope they catch on and change our attitudes for the better.