Sick & Tired: A Virtual Discussion on Chronic Illness and Grief
2025-09-15 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
Sick and tired of being sick and tired?
Us too.
Join death doula Jamie Thrower, Lisa Pahl of The Death Deck, and Catherine of Death Project Manager for a discussion on chronic illness and grief.
This is the second event in our Sick and Tired series.
This time, we’re talking about caregiving while sick: what does it mean to give and receive care? How can you show up for others sicker than yourself, while making space for your own needs and grief? What does deathwork look like, when you’re chronically ill?
We’ll open with a grounding exercise, then create space for your thoughts on chronic illness, grief, burnout, and death / aging / mortality / the many ways our bodies can fail and surprise us.
Bring your grief, bring your rage, bring your messy humanity.
We’ll be there to meet you.
More information and RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sick-tired-a-virtual-discussion-on-chronic-illness-and-grief-tickets-1588167404459

Why California Needs a Conservation Cemetery
2025-09-23 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Online
🌿 Our Bodies Are Designed to Return to the Earth 🌿
Join our Zoom to learn what a Conservation Cemetery is… permanently protected natural land where burials restore habitat. We’ll take a deep dive into how a conservation cemetery differs from modern burial practices, and how it compares to green burial.
Here in California, we’re a community that thrives outdoors! From beaches to deserts to mountains, yet when it comes to our final rest, our options are far removed from the natural rhythms that reflect our lifestyle. Modern burial practices – concrete vaults, metal caskets, and toxic embalming chemicals – lock our bodies away from the very process we were designed for: to decompose naturally and nourish the earth. Instead of restoring the land, these practices harm it.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
A Conservation Cemetery is more than green burial. It’s a way of restoring land, protecting wildlife, and ensuring our final act on earth is one of renewal, not depletion.
Join us for this community gathering to:
Learn how conservation cemeteries differ from standard and green cemeteries.
Explore how our end-of-life choices can heal the planet.
Be part of the growing movement urging California lawmakers to cut the red tape and make these options available here at home.
Let’s be honest… there isn’t a lot of transparency within our current funeral industry, we want to change that! Join us for real conversation about our common burial practices and gain an understanding about how harmful they are not only to our bodies, but to the planet – and learn about greener options that may impact your end-of-life decision making.
Questions? hello@dodeathdifferent.com
Instagram @thedeathnetwork
Website www.TheDeathNetwork.com
We can’t wait to see you!

The Good Death Book Club Experience FREE 12-Month Death and Dying Course
2025-10-09 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-11-13 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-12-11 13:00 - 14:00, 2026-01-08 13:00 - 14:00, 2026-02-12 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York)
According to a recent AARP study, there are over 52 million caregivers in the United States right now—and 70% of them say they are overwhelmed. Every single day, I receive messages from current and former caregivers who say:
“I wish I had this knowledge when I was caring for my loved one.”
Or:
“The Doulagivers training is helping me more than I can say.”
The truth is:
We will all have a caregiving story.
Let’s make sure yours is one filled with support, empowerment, and peace.
That’s why I created The GOOD DEATH BOOK CLUB Experience: Death and Dying Course—a free, live, 12-month educational journey through my bestselling book The Good Death: A Guide for Supporting Your Loved One Through the End of Life.
What It Is:
Each month, we explore one chapter of The Good Death together.
You’ll receive:
-A live End of life teaching course with me, Suzanne B. O’Brien, RN
-A guided workbook and downloadable companion guide
-A group discussion and experiential exercise
-A full 12 month Death and Dying Course for free
Who It’s For:
-Current and future caregivers ( all of us )
-Death Doulas, aspiring Death Doulas, medical professionals
-Individuals seeking grief healing and emotional support
-Anyone who wants spiritual inspiration and empowerment around death, aging, and life itself
Why It Matters:
Death is 100% guaranteed—and yet, our modern culture has stripped away the education and sacredness that used to surround it.
This lack of awareness is contributing to unnecessary fear, trauma, and prolonged suffering and grief.
But death is not the enemy.
It is our greatest teacher about how to truly live.
When we return death to its place as a natural, sacred transition, we begin to reclaim peace, presence, and purpose in our lives and communities TODAY!
What You Can Do:
Join The Experience and Share with Your Friends!

"It's Complicated" Support Group
2025-10-09 17:30 - 19:00, 2025-11-13 17:30 - 19:00, 2025-12-11 17:30 - 19:00, 2026-01-08 17:30 - 19:00, 2026-02-12 17:30 - 19:00 (America/Denver) | Virtual Event
A monthly peer-led Zoom group for people who had a strained relationship with someone who’s died. It can be tough to be in a group with other folks who were close with their parent, sibling, grandparent, partner, co-parent, friend, etc. As much as I like for there to be a range of experiences represented in grief groups, so that we can hear diverse perspectives, sometimes it is nice to be with people who “get it.” When addiction, mental health challenges, conflict, estrangement, abuse, etc. were a part of the picture, it can affect the grief journey in unique ways. This is a space for us.

Virtual Silent Book Club of Death
2025-10-10 17:00 - 18:30 (America/New_York)
Death Project Manager, Silent Book Club of Death, Silent Book Club of Death NYC, Silent Book Club of Death MTL, and TalkDeath’s Book Club are thrilled to invite you to a Virtual Silent Book Club of Death meeting!
This virtual gathering will be on Friday, October 10th at 5pm ET/ 4pm CT/ 3pm MT/ 2pm PT.
Silent Book Club of Death meetings are structured like any Silent Book Club gathering: you meet up with friendly, like-minded readers, and then politely ignore them while reading a book of your own choosing. Members are encouraged to bring books related to the theme of death, dying, grief, aging, or mortality, but anyone who wants to just read quietly in a death-conscious space is welcome to join.
Folks are welcome to be on or off camera. We’ll play some relaxing music. After the designated reading time, folks are welcome to stay on and share a bit about what they’re reading and connect.
A loose agenda for the evening is as follows:
5PM – 5:15PM: readers join; introductions of hosts and guests
5:15 – 5:45PM: silent reading time while music plays
5:45 – 6:15PM: share out about what you’ve read and lightly facilitated group discussion
6:15 – 6:30PM: goodbyes and wrap up
This virtual event will be held via Zoom. Closed captions will be enabled. If we can do anything to provide accessibility, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Guests who RSVP will be emailed the Zoom link.
We hope you can join us!
Learn more and RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-silent-book-club-of-death-tickets-1671597245359?aff=oddtdtcreator

Storytelling Grief
2025-10-20 08:00 - 17:00, 2025-10-20 10:00 - 12:00 (America/Denver) | Zoom, Cornelius, NC, 28031
Nurture your inner writer, creative, and keeper of stories. Immortalize the experiences that have shaped you.
A 6-week class to help you preserve the stories you can’t (won’t) lose to time, and cultivate a writing ritual that transforms memory into lasting legacy. Through dedicated writing practice, relevant and expansive prompts, group sharing, and genuine feedback, you’ll honor your creativity, learn to trust your voice on the page, and build community around the sacred work of story-keeping.
Taught by Dr. Melissa Delizia
(Writer, Doctor of Social Work, & Certified Professional Coach)
Mondays from October 20 – November 24
10am – 12pm Mountain

Childfree By Choice & Grieving
2025-10-20 17:30 - 19:00, 2025-11-17 17:30 - 19:00, 2025-12-15 17:30 - 19:00, 2026-01-19 17:30 - 19:00 (America/Denver) | Virtual Event
It’s not a given that everyone who is childfree by choice is 100%, unabashedly content with the decision. While we may be set in our choice, there can still be grief there. I know there is for me. It’s a both-and/two truths situation. Many of us make this choice for a lot of unfortunate, depressing, and/or systemic reasons, and I created this space where we can be with our truths, and hurts, around it all.
Our monthly peer-led Zoom group is intended to be a space for people who have chosen not to have children. It is not intended to be a child-loss support group or infertility support group, although if you have prior experience with infertility and/or pregnancy loss and have since decided to not have children (meaning you are now childfree by choice) feel free to join and see if it’s a good fit.

Return Home: An Inside Look at Terramation
2025-10-20 20:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York)
What does it mean to meet death with love, purpose, and a deep respect for the earth? 💚 Join us on October 20th at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT for a very special webinar to find out! We’re incredibly excited to introduce you to two of the hearts behind Return Home: Katey and Mandy. Together, they bring decades of experience and a shared passion for transforming deathcare into a healing, empowering, and natural process.
Join Katey and Mandy as they dive deep into the beautiful, natural process of terramation. They’ll answer all your questions and share how this choice can be a final, meaningful act for you and our planet.
A licensed funeral director from both Washington and England, Katey found her way to Return Home after a decade in traditional funeral service. For her, terramation is about stewardship—of the earth and of the families she serves. She builds true, meaningful relationships over the 60-day process, guiding families without the pressure of sales. Outside of work, you can find her gardening with her dog Dixie Barbara or exploring the PNW with her nephews. Her mission? Equal and easy access for everyone in every walk of life to quality, approachable deathcare and death education. Meanwhile, with nearly 15 years as a licensed funeral director, Mandy’s passion for compassionate care naturally grew into a dedication to green death care. Now, as Return Home’s preneed coordinator, she helps families plan for an eco-friendly and meaningful end-of-life journey from her family farm in Minnesota.
📅 Date: October 20th
⏰ Time: 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET
💚 Cost: Sliding scale options available!

Sexual Bereavement - Queer Death Salon
2025-10-21 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Toronto) | Zoom, Cornelius, NC, 28031
Let’s gather and engage with our questions and feelings about:
sex after the death of a loved one.
the disenfranchised grief of polyamorous and kinky relational loss.
how pleasure and erotic energy can support our mourning.
changes in desire as death approaches for ourselves or a loved one.
cultural expectations of how a widow should act and our internalized stories about that.
anything sex/pleasure and bereavement related. No question is too taboo.
Jess will invite folks to participate in embodiment exercises, freewrite and consider the ways they want to be in relationship to their sexual expression within their (anticipatory) grief.
Jess DeVries is a queer somatic sex coach and grief worker. She primarily serves the queer/trans community supporting folks in reclaiming body autonomy and to inspire curiosity about pleasure and sexual expression, guiding folks to define and pursue pleasure on their own terms. She is a grief advocate who regularly facilitates spaces for people to grieve, inviting the wisdom of the body to guide the grief process.
Within the realms of grief, she has trained with Being Here, Human – as well as – Shauna Janz of Sacred Grief. Her grief work is held by connections to her ancestors, mugwort, hawthorne, rose, connection to her pussy, and many many tears. Within the realms of pleasure and embodiment, she has trained in Somatic Sex Education and Sexological Bodywork at the ISSSE – as well as – the Somatica Method with the Somatica Institute. Her pleasure work is held by delighting in sights, smells, and tastes, a dirty imagination, and sharing touch with human and non-human kin.
Jess provides 1:1 sessions online or by phone. She also facilitates workshops, grief circles, and rituals online for queer folks, ex-Christians, and Covid realist communities.

Samhain Circle
2025-11-01 08:00 - 17:00, 2025-11-01 10:30 - 11:30 (America/Toronto) | Zoom, Cornelius, NC, 28031
Celebrating the turn of the witches new year. Honoring death & rebirth.
Join us for this hour-long sacred circle to observe Samhain, an ancient Celtic pagan festival to close the harvest season and open the dark days of the year. Bring your ancestors, guides, and goddesses closer. Set intentions. Release. Celebrate what comes next.

A Gathering for Friend-loss Grievers
2025-12-03 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
In this online gathering, we will share stories and have a facilitated discussion about friend-loss grief.
The session will be hosted and facilitated by Hannah Rumsey, the Founder and Director of Friends Missing Friends — a community dedicated to providing support and guidance for people grieving friends.
Friend-loss grief is widely ignored and dismissed by our society. Harold Ivan Smith, the author of Grieving the Death of a Friend, said it best: “The distraught close friend of someone who dies has virtually no legitimate, public grief and mourning channels.”
Because of that, friend-loss grievers have very few avenues to openly talk about their grief. In this discussion, we are free to talk about it: the depth of our sadness, the fears, the anxieties, the doubts, the jealousies. Everything we are normally too scared to say.
Let’s honor our friends, make connections, and have meaningful conversation.

TalkDeath Book Club | Achille Mbembe's Necropolitics
2025-12-13 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Toronto)
Join us to discuss Achille Mbembe’s Necropolitics with each other via Zoom on Saturday, December 13th at 2pm ET/ 1pm CT/ 12pm MT/ 11am PT
Join TalkDeath’s Book Club as we discuss Achille Mbembe’s Necropolitics.
“In Necropolitics Achille Mbembe, a leader in the new wave of francophone critical theory, theorizes the genealogy of the contemporary world, a world plagued by ever-increasing inequality, militarization, enmity, and terror as well as by a resurgence of racist, fascist, and nationalist forces determined to exclude and kill. He outlines how democracy has begun to embrace its dark side—what he calls its ‘nocturnal body’—which is based on the desires, fears, affects, relations, and violence that drove colonialism. This shift has hollowed out democracy, thereby eroding the very values, rights, and freedoms liberal democracy routinely celebrates. As a result, war has become the sacrament of our times in a conception of sovereignty that operates by annihilating all those considered enemies of the state. Despite his dire diagnosis, Mbembe draws on post-Foucauldian debates on biopolitics, war, and race as well as Fanon’s notion of care as a shared vulnerability to explore how new conceptions of the human that transcend humanism might come to pass. These new conceptions would allow us to encounter the Other not as a thing to exclude but as a person with whom to build a more just world.”
Whether you are a death care worker, scholar, or every day person trying to contemplate death, dying, and structures of power, you are welcome.
Guests are welcome to attend on or off camera, to be on or off mute, and to share as much or as little as they prefer.
We’ll be meeting to discuss the book with each other on Saturday, December 13th’s we’ll meet virtually via Zoom.
This event is free but you must RSVP to receive the Zoom link. The Zoom link will be sent to guests 48 and 24 hours in advance, kindly check your spam folder if you do not receive it.

Becky Robison in conversation with Kaira Tucker
2026-01-14 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Kentucky/Louisville) | Carmichael’s Bookstore, 2720 Frankfort Avenue, Louisville, KY, 40206, United States
Louisville! To celebrate the launch of my new book, My Parents Are Dead: What Now? A Panic-Free Guide to the Practicalities of Death, join me at Carmichael’s on Frankfort for a discussion and book signing with everyone’s favorite local librarian, cemetery enthusiast, and certified goth, Kaira Tucker.

When Grief Shows Up in the Body
2026-01-15 15:30 - 16:15 (America/New_York)
Join Camila Crews, founder of Sorry For Your Loss (Cards), and Susan Koursaris, founder of Wholly Heart Nutrition, for a conversation on how grief shows up in the body and how movement and food can support healing.
January is Self Love Month, making this a good time to talk about gentle ways to care for yourself without pressure or perfection. This conversation is not about fixing grief. It is about understanding your body and meeting yourself with compassion.

Intro to the Gates of Grief
2026-01-16 12:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York)
Grab your lunch or favorite tea and join us for a session with Rebecca Churt, Founder of The Grievery.
​This 50-minute introductory session offers a guided walk through a framework that expands grief far beyond death — into the realms of identity, longing, lost opportunities, and the quiet heartache we carry for a fractured world.
​We’ll take a concise tour of Francis Weller’s Gates of Grief (from The Wild Edge of Sorrow) and explore how grief — when acknowledged rather than avoided — becomes a vital life skill: helping us stay connected to ourselves and what matters most.
​This session is an invitation to explore grief with curiosity — not to fix anything or relive pain, but to make room for what has long wanted to be named, opening the door to greater clarity, resilience, and meaning.

Life After Loss- Addressing Grief Aftermath: Coping, Meaning Making, and Healing In the Weeks, Months, and Years After Loss
2026-01-22 09:00 - 2026-01-23 12:00 (America/Toronto)
Join us at the Center for Applied Research Solutions to create and engage in rich learning that focuses on grief work that we often miss: the long-term experiences, processes, and impacts of grief for young people, and how we as providers, systems leaders, and culture builders can skill ourselves up to attend to the aftermath with as much attention as the acute.
Thanks to the generous support of the New York Life Foundation (New York Life Insurance Company) and the National Alliance for Children’s Grief (NACG), we are offering this event to help you build the skills to navigate the long-term impacts of grief.
🗓️ WHEN: Thursday, January 22 & Friday, January 23, 2026
💻 WHERE: Virtual (join from anywhere!)
💸 COST: FREE
What you’ll gain:
– Strategies to address trauma, memorialization, and commemoration.
– Skills to interrupt isolation and support long-term healing.
– A deeper understanding of how grief can encompass both joy and deep sadness.
Day 1: Main Summit — Jan 22
⏰ 9:00am–2:00pm PT / 12:00–5:00pm ET
Day 2: Providers’ Processing Space — Jan 23
⏰ 9:00am–12:00pm PT / 12:00–3:00pm ET
Day 1 – Thursday, January 22nd – topics will focus on the aftermath: the weeks, months, and years after big events and how grief can be both experiences of joy and celebration and isolation and deep sadness. Day 1 of the summit includes talks from/with Teddy McGlynn-Wright, workshops with Carla Fernandez, Tina Rocha, Samira Moosavi and our team, two panels of educators, behavioral health providers, and leaders (Taj Jensen, Amy Castellanos, Shefa Obaid, Desralynn Cole, CPPM, Meghan Graham, LCSW, Scott Lindstrom, Rosaura Orengo-Aguayo,PhD, and more) sharing how they navigate grief aftermath leadership post wildfire, hurricane, state violence, substance use, and social media harm. That amazing day closes with Dr. Zelana Montminy, whose words of reflection on focus and griefscape will move us all.
Importantly, Day 2 – Friday, January 23rd – focuses on provider processing: often, providers (whether clinical providers, systems leaders, or educators) hold their own grief metabolization on pause while they support children and youth in acute need, featuring an opening talk by Candice Rose Valenzuela, a discussion with Ebony Sinnamon-Johnson, Jerica Coffey, and Jesus Solorio, LMFT, a somatic workshop with Sue Kuyper, and a closing art practice with Oriana Ides.
Through meaningful workshops, panels, keynotes, and discussion forums that focus on grief aftermath, we will support professionals who work with young people to feel efficacious, empowered, and energized with strategies and skills that support young people in navigating all that comes with aftermath coping and healing: addressing trauma and grief activation, memorialization and commemoration, interrupting isolation and disenfranchised grief, structural strategies to ensure ongoing, responsive care.
Register, see the full agenda and faculty bios here! https://www.cars-rp.org/life-after-loss

What Will Become of Us? Burial, Cremation, and Other Forms of Disposition
2026-01-29 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Toronto)
What will become of us? Join a free online webinar to explore burial, cremation & natural burial options. Register for link + recording.
Learn about burial, cremation, and other end-of-life options in the National Capital Region.
Conservation Burial Ottawa invites you to a Zoom call on January 29 at 7:00 pm to explore the choices available for the care of physical remains after death. Understanding these options can help us plan a meaningful farewell and make decisions that align with our values.
You’ll also learn why Conservation Burial Ottawa advocates for conservation burial! This webinar is fee to attend.
Please pre-register to receive the Zoom link and the event recording. Some information will be specific to the Ottawa region, but all are welcome. https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/APEsBtEARrSNlgIoCTcQ6A
Photo credit to Ramsey Creek Preserve in South Carolina.
