DEATH CAFES & EVENTS

I continue to offer my events online.

Join me from the comfort of your own home!

2021 EVENTS

May 25: A gathering for death cafe hosts! 6:30-8 p.m. eastern. Email sarah@deathpositivedc.com if you want to attend.
*Sold Out* May 30: A special (in-person) tour of Congressional Cemetery for Death Positive DC. Stay tuned for a fall tour!
June 2: "Through the Eyes of Mary Todd Lincoln: Reflections on Grief and Child Loss" - A collaborative event with President Lincoln’s Cottage, Death Positive DC, and the DC Pregnancy Loss and Infant Death Peer Support Group. Details and tickets ($10) here.

June 4-6, Life & Death Event

Death Positive DC is offering four free events.

Join the Life & Death Event Facebook group.

June 4: Life & Death Event: How to Start a Death Cafe in Your Community. Register here.
June 5: Life & Death Event: Meet the Archivist at Congressional Cemetery with Dayle Dooley. Register here.
June 5: Life & Death Event: Pet Loss and Grief Discussion Group. Details and registration here.
June 6: Life & Death Event: Green Burial with Congressional Cemetery. Register here.

Check the announcements section of the Facebook group to see events (organized by month) offered by local people and organizations. Confirm event details for yourself as I am not always aware of changes to other people's events.
Email Sarah (she/hers) sarah@deathpositivedc.com with any questions.

Past Events

May 2: How to Start a Death Cafe. Starts at 5:30 p.m. eastern. Register here.
May 14: I'm hosting a virtual death cafe for the Center for Mindful Living at 7:30 p.m. Open to everyone. Details on how to join here.

April 22: Earth Day Green Burial Event (free, virtual) with Congressional Cemetery & Death Positive DC. Register here. Join us at 7 p.m. eastern to learn about green burials (both generally and also specifically how it works at Congressional Cemetery). Paul Williams, President of Congressional Cemetery, will give a presentation followed by a Q&A. Even if you have attended one of our green burial events before, you are welcome to attend again!

December Events

Save the date. Virtual Death Cafe cohosted by Jamie Arthurs and me on 12/9 through the Arlington Library. Details/registration here.
canceled: NEW DATE! 12/19. Gratitude & Remembrance: A Holiday Vigil to Honor Our Loved Ones (for the BIPOC Community only) on 12/19 at 12 p.m. eastern. Register here. Please bring a photo of your loved one and be prepared to speak for two to three minutes about why you chose their picture, what you want to remember and honor about them, the impact they had on you, etc. If you do not have a photo, you can still attend and speak about your loved one. After we share our photos and stories, we will have a group discussion about different rituals or traditions we have to honor and remember our loved ones during the holidays. This free, online event will be facilitated by Valoria Walker & Mina Devadas. This event is for members of the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) community only. This is not a grief support group or counseling session.

November Events

Stitch 'N Bitch on 11/15 from 4-5:30 p.m. eastern. If you don't knit, it's ok. Just find something creative to do with your hands (sew, paint, write, etc.). Details/registration here.
Legacy Workshop with Hoff on 11/19 at 6 p.m. eastern. Register here. Bob Hoffman is an attorney and end-of-life resource/advocate. In this 90 minute event, Hoff will offer various approaches to think about different aspects of legacy as well as ways to create a tangible expression of your own legacy.
How to Start a Death Cafe in Your Community on 11/20 at 6 p.m. eastern. Register here.
Gratitude & Remembrance: A Holiday Vigil to Honor Our Loved Ones (for the BIPOC Community only) on 11/28 at 12 p.m. eastern. Register here. Please bring a photo of your loved one and be prepared to speak for two to three minutes about why you chose their picture, what you want to remember and honor about them, the impact they had on you, etc. If you do not have a photo, you can still attend and speak about your loved one. After we share our photos and stories, we will have a group discussion about different rituals or traditions we have to honor and remember our loved ones during the holidays. This free event will be facilitated by Valoria Walker & Mina Devadas. This event is for members of the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) community only. This is not a grief support group or counseling session.

October Events

Virtual Death Cafe on Oct. 15th, 6-7:30 p.m., through a public library in Virginia. Stay tuned for details about how to register.

September Events

September 26, 11 am eastern. Death Cafe for the BIPOC community only.
September 4th, Flowers for Moses Cemetery in Bethesda, MD.
Sign up for a Halloween card from Death Positive DC.

SUMMER EVENTS

Death Positive DC is participating in the Life & Death Event June 19-21.
June 20th, Advance Directive 101.
June 20th, Green Burials with Congressional Cemetery.
June 20th, How to Start a Death Cafe in Your Community.
June 20th, Death Cafe.
August 8th, Death Cafe for Dying to Know Day, Co-Hosted by Mina Devadas

MAY EVENTS

May 6th at 8 pm eastern: "How to Host a Death Cafe" for people who want to learn how to hold a death cafe in-person or move their death cafe online. Also for people who already host death cafes and want to learn more. Please read the "how to" guide on the Death Cafe website ahead of time.
May 11th at 7 pm eastern: Advance Directive 101 session. Learn the basics of creating an advance directive and why it matters.
May 15th, 6:30-7:30 pm eastern (NEW TIME): Death Positive DC celebrates three years! Pop into this Zoom gathering and say hi.
May 17, virtual death cafe, 12-1:30 p.m. eastern.
May 19th at 12 p.m. eastern: Book club on children's books about death and grief. Open to all adults.
May 22nd at 7 pm eastern: Paul Williams, President of Congressional Cemetery, will talk to us about green burials and working at the cemetery.
May 24, virtual death cafe, 7-8:30 p.m. eastern.
May 31st, virtual death cafe, 12-1:30 p.m. eastern.

APRIL EVENTS

Advance Directive 101 session on April 15th, 12-1 pm eastern.
Stitch 'n Bitch on April 16th, from 8:30-930/9:45 pm eastern.
Rhizome Death Cafe on April 17th, 6-7:30 pm eastern.
How to Host a Death Cafe on April 18th, from 4-5:30 p.m. eastern. For people who want to learn how to hold a death cafe or move their death cafe online. Also for people who already host death cafes and want to learn more. Please read the "how to" guide on the Death Cafe website ahead of time.
Paul Williams, President of Congressional Cemetery, will talk to us about green burials on April 22--Earth Day--from 12-1 pm eastern.
Bob Hoffman will offer his Legacy Workshop for Death Positive DC on April 23.
Rhizome Death Cafe on April 26th, 12-1:30 pm eastern.

Death Cafes

I've been hosting death cafes in DC since November of 2016.

Take a look at this short (under four minutes) video on the Washington Post website about a death cafe I hosted in DC.

Find a death cafe near you!

What is a death cafe?

Filling Out the Five Wishes:

A "Planning Ahead" Workshop

*Stay tuned for the next workshop!

Feb. 29th at Rhizome, 3:30-5:30 (corrected time) p.m.

Cost is $12. Register here.

Five Wishes is an advance directive that addresses personal, emotional, and spiritual issues and meets medical and legal criteria. It is legal in MD, DC, and VA. We will discuss how to share your Five Wishes with your physician and your family/friends. You’ll receive your own document to write in (and sign and take home). Light snacks and drinks will be provided.

Write Your Own Obit Workshop

This event was canceled because of COVID-19. Stay tuned for the next workshop.

The next workshop will be on March 21st from 2-4 p.m at Rhizome in DC. Register here. Cost is $10.

Read an article in the Washington Post Magazine and in The Guardian about my workshop.

Book Club

Stay tuned for the next book club!

I created a Facebook group so we can continue our book club discussions outside of our bi-monthly meetings. Join the conversation!

Stitch 'n Bitch:

April 16th 8:30-9:30/9:45 p.m. eastern time. Virtual knitting circle (using zoom). We'll be checking in with each other and talking about life/death during this pandemic. You can do anything creative with your hands while we talk...at the last gathering we had people knitting, sewing, coloring, journaling, and doing origami!

To find events and death cafes hosted

by other people or organizations in the DC area,

please visit the announcements section of the Facebook group.

Past Events

I've hosted more death cafes than I can list. Here's a sampling of some of our other events!

Jan. 20th: A visit to the National Museum of Women in the Arts to see Judy Chicago's exhibit on death.

Jan. 16th: An obituary workshop for Iona's Third Thursday End-of-Life Conversation Series (though Around Town DC).

Nov. 2, 2019: "End of Life Expo: Planning a Good Death" at Iona Senior Services Center in DC. I offered a "write your own obit" workshop and had a Death Positive DC table as part of the expo.

Sept. 16, 2019: "Write Your Own Obituary" workshop at Rhizome. Read an article in the Washington Post Magazine about the workshop.

July 23, 2019: Knitting group! People were knitting, sewing, coloring, and doing origami. Our topic of discussion was memento mori.

May 29, 2019: "Write Your Own Obituary" workshop at Rhizome. Read an article about the Dec. workshop here!

May 7, 2019: Book Club! We read The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully.

April 23, 2019: Knitting group! People were knitting, sewing, coloring, and doing origami. Our topic of discussion was remembering the dead and how we honor and connect with our dead loved ones.

April 14, 2019: We had a wonderful tour of the beautiful Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, DC. We even got to see the inside of the Renwick Chapel.

March 26, 2019: Book Club! We read Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach.

Feb. 26, 2019: Death Positive DC's first knitting group. Our conversation was prompted by questions from The Death Deck card game. Each gathering has a different topic of discussion related to death.

Feb. 5, 2019: Death Positive DC's inaugural book club! We read From Here to Eternity by Caitlin Doughty.

Dec. 11, 2018: "Write Your Own Obituary" workshop at Rhizome. Read an article about it here!

Dec. 1, 2018: I co-facilitated an event called "Weaving and Grieving" at the Willow Street Gallery in DC/Takoma Park. Participants shared stories and sentiments on their own grief, how grief is symbolically woven into our daily lives, and how gender socialization influences grieving processes--all while creating a unique weaving to contribute to a group work.

Nov. 7, 2018: Members of Death Positive DC met at the Avalon Theater in DC to watch a documentary called 306 Hollywood, which was followed by a Q&A with one of the filmmakers. Watch on PBS (POV) or find it on iTunes.

Oct. 20, 2018: Members of Death Positive DC visited the "Día de Muertos: Cultural Perspectives" art exhibit at Strathmore in Rockville. Learn more about this wonderful art exhibit here.