Presentations I’m offering along with events that catch my eye. Click on links for more information.
December 2024/ January 2025
- Angel of Hope Children’s Remembrance Ceremony: Sun., Dec. 15 at 7pm in the Chapel at historic River View Cemetery in SW Portland. Every year for the last 13 I’ve been honored to lead a candlelight ceremony of remembrance for those mourning the death of a child. No cost, no tickets or RSVP needed. Please note Katie has agreed to incorporate photos received through Thurs., Dec 12. Contact info here.
- Outliers & Outlaws feature documentary showing at Portland’s Cinema 21 Dec. 15-18. I consider historical memory projects an essential part of befriending our mortality. I attended the world premiere of this film and highly recommend it, along with all the legacy tending of the larger Eugene Lesbian History Project.
- Longest Night: Sat., Dec. 21, 6:45-8:30pm in SE Portland. From Portland Threshold Singers: “Come join us for an evening of shared music, poetry and interactive exploration as we honor the darkness and light. Free, inclusive of families.” Waverly UCC, 3300 SE Woodward.
- A Grief Workshop: Turning Pain into Poetry. Sun., Dec. 22 in SE Portland. From Studio Nunchi: “If you’re feeling grief during this holiday season, you are not alone. Join us for an intimate evening of light movement + creative writing, centered around community & destigmatizing grief.”
- City of Roses Death Café, offering regularly scheduled, in-person Death Cafés and Death Chats in Portland.
- Reimagine On-Line Events, offering a full schedule of on-line events, many free, exploring how we “face adversity, loss, and mortality, and channel the hard parts of life into meaningful action and growth.”
PAST EVENTS
- Ethical Wills Workshop, Thur. Sept. 26, hosted by JADE: Jewish Association for Death Education. See also JADE’s interactive, web-based information about Jewish death practices, Hineni.
- Befriending Mortality: My signature 6-Class Series runs every other Monday from Sept. 29-Dec. 9, along with monthly Death Cafés for Befriending Mortality participants and alumnae/i.
- Caring for Our Dead: Making Home Funeral Information Easy to Find, an online community/ continuing education I’m presenting Thur., Oct. 10 on the free, on-line informational site Oregon Funeral Resources & Education, for Lewis & Clark Graduate School in partnership with the NW Association for Death Education & Bereavement Support.
- Pacific Northwest History Conference, Oct. 18-19, features sessions on events related to public health, racial injustice, climate disruption, Indigenous sovereignty, queer history, and the fragility of democratic institutions, all from a Pacific Northwest history lens, including the community remembrance project I co-curated, No on 9 Remembered.
- Washington County End-of-Life Resource Fair, Wed. Oct. 23, featuring a presentation by yours truly at noon.
- Finish Strong: Prioritizing What Matters Most at Life’s End – A 7-week Guided Book Forum with author and advocate Barbara Coombs Lee in collaboration with Hopewell House, hosted by the North Coast End-of-Life Collective on Zoom, Wednesdays 10/23, 11/6, 11/20, 12/4, 12/18, 1/8, 1/22.
- Jack Has a Plan, a documentary film about one community’s experience with Medical Aid in Dying, airing on Public Broadcasting this fall and in person on Wed. Nov. 20 at the Beaverton Library (I’ll be facilitating conversation afterwards).
Photo: From my visit to Olle Bolle, one of six NW Trolls.