LET’S TALK
ABOUT DEATH
COURTESY OF THE ELISABETH KÜBLER-ROSS FOUNDATION
“Social media is, at
least in part, a great
democratizing force,
so I imagine more
and more people will
turn to Facebook,
Twitter, Death Cafes,
to struggle with the
meaning of death and
how to live with it.”
ing, they’ll receive an email with
a sample invitation and potential
questions to bring up at the meal.
Some possibilities: What stands
in-between you and a deep clear,
limitless compassion for all living
beings? Are you afraid of death?
Why? Does death feel like an end
or a doorway?
Hosts also are asked to choose
from a selection of dozens of
articles, video and audio clips
Hebb’s team has curated to share
with guests as pre-dinner homework. They include a Steve Jobs
speech on how to live before you
die and an article in which a palliative nurse shares her recollection of the top five regrets of the
dying. No. 1 among men? “I wish
I hadn’t worked so hard.”
Gray, who hosted her own din-
HUFFINGTON
09.29.13
ner at a favorite restaurant during a visit to Naples, Fla., where
she used to live, called it an
“amazing experience.”
“I shared the table with five
extraordinary women who have
been a part of my life for the past
twenty plus years, including 14
years while my son was alive and
eight since his passing [from a
degenerative brain disease] in
2005,” Gray said. “As a sisterhood, we had never had that talk
about things like, ‘What happens if I’m in a coma? Who is in
charge of making my hair look
good? Who gets my diaries?’ It
was a very specific conversation
about our camaraderie and a revelation of secrets.”
With the success of dinners
such as Sweet’s and Gray’s, several on-going ones are now being
planned around the country. The
dinners are among a number of
A Death Over
Dinner event
in Japan.