Death cafes help ease grief, loss amid coronavirus
Green-Wood Cemetery pioneered concept in Brooklyn
Panic attacks, trouble breathing, relapses that have sent her to bed for 14 hours at a time: At 35, Marissa Oliver has been forced to deal with the specter of death on COVID-19’s terms, yet conversations about her illness, fear and anxiety haven’t been easy.
That’s why she headed onto Zoom to attend a death cafe, a gathering of strangers willing to explore mortality and its impact on the living, preferably while sipping tea and eating cake.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has given a boost to the idea of death cafes, they have been held for several years by Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, first in the cemetery’s “beautiful chapel” and now on Zoom.
“Sadly, in the current climate, our thoughts are more fixated on death than ever, and anxieties are running high,” Green-Wood’s website says. “The Green-Wood Cemetery will continue to hold group conversations as a way for all of us to share our thoughts and feelings on death using Zoom. Our popular “Death Café” series is an opportunity for safe and open exchanges, without an agenda.”