Windy City Death Cafe
A write up of Windy City Death Cafe
Ten guests gathered for our 3rd Death Cafe just as the sun set on a glorious Spring day in Chicago. Among our guests were a 90-year-old WWII veteran, a retired hospice nurse, a PhD who left his decades-long position in academia to follow his passion, an HR executive, and an artist and near-death experiencer in her 7th decade. We covered a wide range of conversational topics over tea and zucchini brownies, including end-of-life care, health care directives, having "the conversation" with loves ones, burial options, personal experiences with dying, and whether we'd live differently if we knew what happened after we die. One guest spoke about his desire to experience the sacredness of witnessing death; another spoke about the trauma of witnessing too many deaths. Evaluations were uniformly positive; the Death Cafe experience was described as "listening, sharing, learning," and "interesting, insightful, and informative," and "open and loving." We're looking forward to our 4th Windy City Death Cafe on 7/25/14!