OK, *that* was marginally disappointing.
The one thing our society refuses to talk about is death. At a Death Cafe, we can. I attended a few Death Cafes in Delta, and found them very useful. So I have been trying to get one going in Port Alberni ever since I got here. A Death Cafe is not (intended to be) grief support or counselling, just a safe space to talk about death and related issues. At a Death Cafe people drink tea, eat cake and discuss death. The aim is to increase awareness of death to help people make the most of their (finite) lives.
So, finally, the United Church offered me monthly space for six months. Actually, I thought that was a bit much. I figured that people might *maybe* want to meet quarterly. To my astonishment, the people who showed up for the first one wanted to meet *weekly*!
So I scrambled around for the entire weekend, and finally got the hospice society to open up on a bi-weekly basis. And got the word around to all those who showed up for the first. And got a co-facilitator, in case I couldn't make it some time. And we had our first meeting tonight.
And precisely zero people showed up.
Well, at least the co-facilitator and I had a nice chat.
But we will still try it again at the Alberni Valley Hospice Office, 2579 10th Ave, Thursday, February 27th, 7-9 PM. Bi-weekly, so the next meetings will be on Mar. 13 and 27.
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