LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Groups of Lake County residents continue to engage in a new way to discuss the topics of death, dying, living life to its fullest and planning for end-of-life events.

Two “death cafés” meet each month in Lake County locations.

A new location in Lower Lake has been added and is now meeting the first Wednesday of the month at the new Lower Lake Coffee n Cream Café, 16205 Main St., Lower Lake, and the other café gathers on the third Wednesday of each month at the Riviera Common Grounds Coffee House, 9730 Soda Bay Road, Kelseyville.

Groups meet from 4 to 5:30 p.m. The group discussions are open to the public, and there is no charge to join the discussion.

The informal meetings are facilitated by volunteer community members MJ McNulty, Laisne Hamilton, Henny Nouwen, RN, CMT, and Robert Rothemich.

Started in England, “death cafés” are spreading across the United States in an effort to normalize the discussion about death, helping people relax with the topic and make the most of their lives.

Each café is different, said Nouwen, “and topics discussed will vary based on interests of group participants.”

Gatherings are anything but morbid and depressing and typically draw people from all walks of life who want to talk about death to live life more fully.

Groups are not intended to be support groups or counseling oriented; they are more about self-exploration. The cafés are about taking death out of the closet, said Nouwen.

Very few of us want to talk about death over dinner with friends, at a football game or at a party, said Lakeport resident and death café facilitator Hamilton.

However, there are times when people do want to talk about the “taboo” topic, and when that happens there may not be someone to listen, she said.

Doctors and scholars who study attitudes toward death say that for most people such conversations are healthy; talking about death can ease people’s fears and the notion that death is taboo.

“A major part of American society is very averse to thinking about dying,” noted David Barnard, a professor of ethics at the Oregon Health and Science University who has written extensively about the end of life.

Local facilitators of each café have a depth of experience in the arena of death and dying, ranging from work with hospice agencies and nursing to serving as a “death midwife.”

For more information, call 707-279-8512 or 707-889-0751, or online visit www.deathcafe.com.

Janine Smith-Citron works for Hospice Services of Lake County.