Dear Death Café Guests:
I’ve had the pleasure of facilitating eight Death Cafes in
Calgary over the past year; however, last Sunday’s cafe, on May 25th, was my final Death Café for now.
I invited people to meet for cake and conversation about
death, dying, and grief; the stories, wisdom, and courage which I’ve heard from
over 350 guests have taught me lessons about life which I now hold dear.
I’m pleased now to hand over the Calgary Death Café forum to two
women who have attended the majority of my cafes: Janine Violini and Jamie
Whittaker. I’m looking forward to attending, as a participant, the Death Cafes
that these compassionate, knowledgeable, and fun women will create.
You’ll be able to contact Janine and Jamie at yycdeathcafe@gmail.com, and their upcoming
cafes will be posted on the Death Café website at www.deathcafe.com .
So, what am I going to be doing instead of Death Cafes? Death and Dying Dinner Parties! These will be
meaningful conversations about life, death and dying, but now over dinner - a
little more intimate conversations, a little more food. Actually, a lot more food!
If you would like
more information about these new events, stay tuned to this page.
I leave you with the quote with which I have ended the Death Cafes:
“Before we can generate compassion
and love, it is important to have a clear understanding of what we understand
compassion and love to be. In simple terms, compassion and love can be defined
as positive thoughts and feelings that give rise to such essential things in
life as hope, courage, determination, and inner strength. In the Buddhist tradition,
compassion and love are seen as two aspects of the same thing: Compassion is
the wish for another being to be free from suffering; love is wanting them to
have happiness." His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Warmly
Wendy Kurchak
