Summer newsletter
Welcome to the community of the bereaved, the searching, and those seeking peace around death and the losses of beloved friends, animals, and family members. Please send items of interest for sharing in our next newsletter to nekdeathcarecommunity@gmail.com.
Upcoming Events
June 12th - Death Cafe at Albany Library 6 p.m. Facilitated by Kelsey Crelin
June 13th - Death Cafe at Greensboro Library 11 a.m. Facilitated by Sharon Putney
Sharon plans to show the documentary Speaking Grief at the beginning, with conversation and refreshments to follow. The film is described this way: "Moving away from the idea that grief is a problem that needs to be "fixed," Speaking Grief validates the experience of grievers and guides those wishing to support them. There is no "right" way to grieve. By sharing diverse representations of bereavement, Speaking Grief illustrates that grief is a universal, yet individual experience."
August 29th - September 1st - Act 39 at Highland Center for the Arts, Greensboro
What do you do when your best friend, dying of cancer, asks you to help end his life?
Act 39, a play written by Rob Mermin, is the true story of what happened when Rob’s friend decided to use Vermont's medical aid in dying law, known as Act 39. It is a soulful, humor-filled story of friendship, and exposes the vulnerability of the human spirit when facing mortality head-on.
Check out our new NEK Death Care Community website and the amazing Resources section still growing there thanks to Lindsey Warren! You can send Lindsey an email directly to let her know what you love about our Resources section, or what you'd like to see added. The Resources are organized in nine categories:
Planning
Care Organizations
Support for the Journey
Read, Watch, Listen
After Death Care
Grief, Loss, and Mourning
Alzheimers and Dementia
Suicide
Animals
We also have a nice supply of Northeast Kingdom Death Care Community bookmarks to distribute through local libraries. The bookmarks will help people find our community website or connect with us by email. If you would like some for your library, let us know!
Recommendations to READ, LISTEN, & WATCH
BOOKS
End of Life Guideline Series: A Compilation of Barbara Karnes Booklets
The Series prepares readers for the natural, normal process of dying and grief. It is a compilation of five popular hospice and palliative care books often used for family education.
PODCAST
Seeing Death Clearly, The Evolution of End-of-Life Care with Barbara Karnes
FILM
Speaking Grief documentary
"It surprised him that his grief was sharper than in the past few days. He had forgotten that grief does not decline in a straight line or along a slow curve like a graph in a child's math book. Instead, it was almost as if his body contained a big pile of garden rubbish full both of heavy lumps of dirt and of sharp thorny brush that would stab him when he least expected it."
----- from the novel Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
There's a Wind Phone in West Glover!
Community member Liz Nelson created this Wind Phone installation for anyone to visit and experience. You can find it just through and above an opening in the upper wall of the Andersonville Cemetery which has one of the most awe inspiring views in the Northeast Kingdom.
Introducing:
Trish Sears, an NEK end-of-life doula whose passion is to inspire proactive end-of-life care planning, envisioning the dignified and compassionate care we all deserve. Trish leads a six week online interactive workshop, 'A Guide to Living Fully & Dying Prepared', described here.
Shelby Budziak, another NEK end-of-life doula and founder of Eternal Roots Homecare LLC, a collective which provides comprehensive non-medical hospice services to those who are terminally ill and their families. Their team includes caregivers, life transition specialists (doulas), and experienced healthcare and social service professionals.
We are grateful for recent financial support from new members for our outreach fund which makes our newsletter, website and bookmarks possible. If you can contribute to these efforts, please use the Donate button on our website.
Thank you, and we hope to see you soon!
Your NEK DCC Founders:
Mariel, Jennifer, Leslie, Lindsey, & Nadine
