Many years ago, eight people arrived with quite a bit of apprehension, which was understandable. They had accepted an invitation from Michael Hebb entitled “Let’s Have Dinner and Talk About Death.” Since then, there have been over a hundred thousand #deathdinners around the globe.
“This adventure began when we learned that 75% of Americans want to die at home, yet only 25% of them do. When we learned that how we end our lives is the most important and costly conversation America is not having. And when we realized that a conversation among loved ones, friends, and even strangers could begin to change these numbers and bring the conversation about death back into mainstream culture.”
The “Death Over Dinner” project is a simple set of tools to help families and friends begin to talk about the one thing that none of us can avoid – the fact we are all, at some point, going to die. We and our families and friends suffer when we don’t think about and communicate our wishes. We find peace when we’ve discovered what truly matters most and we give our loved ones that peace when they know how to honor our wishes. As we build greater comfort and literacy around this important topic, every single one of us wins.
You might ask: Why would I have this conversation over dinner?
The dinner table is the most forgiving place for difficult conversation. The ritual of breaking bread creates warmth and connection, and puts us in touch with our humanity. It offers an environment that is more suitable than the usual places we discuss end of life.
So we raise a generous glass to you and your loved ones and humbly submit version 2.0 of Death Over Dinner!