August Death Cafe Iowa Meeting
A write up of Virtual Death Cafe Iowa
We had a virtual Death Café meeting on August 15, 2023 via Zoom. Buffy Peters from Hamilton’s Academy of Grief & Loss was our facilitator. There were a total of five people who joined Buffy online.
While many topics were discussed during this meeting, we also spent time sharing links for various death related topics. We spent time discussing how different cultures have different customs regarding home deaths, including a conversation regarding if you would be comfortable purchasing a home that someone has died in. We bounced to talking about laws pertaining to families handling funeral services in their homes and what is required for that.
We also discussed how important it is to have conversations about death, ways to comfort someone while not losing focus on the reality of death. This time also included thinking about plans for dying. Those plans can include life insurance needs, informing loved ones of your wishes, looking for funeral assistance, and just knowing all of your options. We talked about different and unique things we want at our funerals, like, we learned that Buffy wants a popcorn machine at her services. It is so important to have those conversations and share that knowledge!!
Toward the end, we discussed the need and importance of sharing our love with others, showing gratitude, and even reconciling with people. You never know so don’t wait until someone is dead to love them. A quote that summed it up perfectly, “Do the Living Now”!