While we must all die one day, how much we enjoy life is very much down to the individual. Come to the Death Café in Bury St Edmunds on 20th January 7.00 – 9.00 PM The Margaret Kemp Room The Quaker Meeting House St John’s Street Bury St Edmunds IP33 1SJ (visit www.burystedmundsquakers.org for directions) […]
Category: Death
The return of life, death and doughnuts – The Death Cafe is back!
“Did you bring joy to the world and have you found joy?” This for me is what death is all about. It’s about life. Its realising none of us lives for ever. As good old Pope Paul said “We all only have so many tomorrows.” So in the New Year I will be running some […]
“There are only so many tomorrows!”
“Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it! I say. Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows.” – Pope Paul VI, Italian Pope, 1897-1978 Actor Rebekah […]
“If you are lost, then I will find you.”
“Ich hab mich verloren” (“I am lost.”) The words of Auguste Deter – the first person ever diagnosed with dementia – came back to me as the wonderful Dr Jennifer Bute, told us about her decade of living with the condition. “If a person is lost, they need to […]
The right to die? Post script 1
“….nothing should be decided “lightly, wantonly or unadvisedly”. Following on from my blog of yesterday, there is a lot more in the press today. Including a report in the Independent that a letter written by cleric Christopher Jones who died from cancer is being sent to all members of the House of Lords urging them to oppose […]
The right to die – assisted death or assisted suicide?
Should we have the right to decide whether we live or die? Is it right to help a person end their life? Since 1961 it has not been illegal to commit suicide. The State recognises we have the right to end our lives if we want to. It’s important though to draw a distinction between assisted suicide […]
“He may be dead but his spirit is still with us”
Today the world mourns and celebrates the life of Nelson Mandela. From the news coverage on the BBC it seems the people of South Africa see this more as a time to celebrate his life than mourn his death. Listening to the radio, I heard two young boys being asked if they were sorry he was dead. […]
Death and dementia – the last taboos? – Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall
Sue Ryder do some fantastic work in palliative care. When they invited me to help run a Death Café at Thorpe Hall I jumped at the chance. The last one went so well we have another coming up. We wont only be talking about death but also about dementia. This may sound gloomy stuff but […]
Death in Italy
San Quirico Tuscany I’m sitting by my Tuscan swimming pool as I write. As I’m touching on the subject of death and the Catholic church, I’m conscious of a large chasm opening in front of me. With that in mind, unless its clear to the contrary, all thoughts and comments are mine and mine alone. […]
Does our desire for the good life cause us to isolate those who remind us of our mortality?
The Death Cafe is pretty big in the USA. My American cousins were visiting recently and hadn’t heard of it. My Cousin Marilyn has just sent me an article from her local paper which I reproduce below. I was particularly struck by the paragraph that I’ve highlighted. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel By BILL WARD Aug. 5, […]