Submitted by CRIS
During the past year, the ad-hoc committee on Death and Dying, with invaluable support from CRIS and the Cazenovia Public Library, has mounted a series of presentations and discussions on subjects vital to seniors and their families. We look forward to bringing you a whole new series of topics beginning in September.
In the meantime, we’ve planned a Special Summer Series to begin this month. We will be hosting monthly meetings of a more informal nature, to be held at the CRIS offices on the last Wednesday of each month. These offerings are modeled to some extent on the increasingly popular Death Café’s around the country.
Instead of a formal presentation on a specific topic, these will be one-and-a-half to two-hour open discussion groups on whatever is of interest to the participants. To get us started, you may want to think about issues vital to you as you age and face the inevitable.
Some suggestions, including reading material, are made below. Feel free to ignore them and bring your own ideas and concerns to the meetings. If you have attended our Vital Conversations during the past two years, you’ll find friendly, familiar faces at our summer get-togethers.
A few new books have grabbed our attention recently. Jessica Nutik Zitter, MD has written passionately about her transition from critical care doctor to palliative care physician in a book called “Extreme Measures.” David Servan-Schreiber MD, PhD writes about cancer in ways that may surprise you in his book “Anti-Cancer: A New Way of Life.” And Barbara Eherenreich’s new book “Natural Causes” is a hot item on the bestseller list.
Also, a must are any of the TED talks on “What Really Matters at the End of Life,” by BJ Miller, MD.
Topics we have not talked about during our regular series include universal health care, alternatives to conventional care for seniors, the mind-body connection, senior housing options. There are probably many more —let’s hear yours.
So please join us for the first of our Special Summer Series at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 30, at the CRIS office, located in the Cherry Valley Professional Plaza, 2662 Rte 20 East (across from John Deere). Registration is not necessary.
For further information, contact us at [email protected] or call 315-655-5743.
