Death Café of Southside Virginia: Not As Morbid As It May First Sound!
The idea of a Death Café originates with the Swiss sociologist and anthropologist Bernard Crettaz, who organized the first café mortel in 2004. Jon Underwood, a UK web developer was inspired by Crettaz’s work and developed the Death Café model in 2011. He was instrumental in the spread of the idea. Events have since been held in 66 countries!
For more information on the history and goals of this death awareness movement, be sure to check out this article from wikipedia here.
What Is A Death Café?
Death Café of Southside Virginia seeks to encourage and stimulate useful, honest conversation and discussion about how we die, how to prepare, how we mourn, and how we care for and remember our loved ones who are in the process of dying, or have passed away. The Death Café is not actually a physical location, but rather, is an event typically hosted at a coffee shop, library and now online virtually on Zoom.
What Is Its Purpose?
The intent of a Death Café is to help people make the most of their finite lives, and discuss death in a safe and understanding environment. Our objective is to increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their lives, and the time that they have left.
What Takes Place At These Events?
At a Death Café, people, often strangers, gather together to eat cake, drink tea or coffee, and discuss death. A Death Café is a welcoming and conversational, group-directed discussion of death with no formal agenda, objectives or themes. So make a cup of coffee or tea and join us for this live video conference event from the comfort of your own home.