We’re looking for your help in creating the newsletter of our dreams for our collective — want to help?

🖋️ We’re looking to include your voices and the full range of the death work moves in you: maybe it’s a piece of reporting on something in the news, a bit of memoir, a reflection, a poem, a photograph, or something else. We’re happy to work with you to shape what you have, and are open to a world of possibilities for what we might include here. 

🗓️ We’re also looking to include member events here and on our calendar. Don’t forget to send them our way.

🏆 And finally: if something good happened — a milestone, a completion, a small victory, a piece of news you're proud of — let us know, and let us celebrate you! Send along your name, location, and 150 words or less about your win, big or small.

E-mail us with any of the above 😊

Not a member yet but want to become one? Head on over to our website to learn more.

✨WE WERE ON NPR LAST WEEK!✨

✨Demystifying Death through Nature Walking: A Reflection✨

by Kristen Patterson, DCDC Supporting Member

“When you go out into the woods, and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens, and some of them are whatever. And you look at the tree and you allow it. You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree.”

-Ram Dass

I love this quote from Ram Dass. I spend a lot of time walking in the woods, observing trees. I imagine all the ways that we humans are like trees. Many of us thrive in groups, but some of us prefer to be alone, or at the edge of the forest. Some trees, like us, have grave scars from early in life, and then thrive for many decades. Some trees grow in pairs, healthy and tall. Other trees started off as a pair, but only one is still alive.

I lead seasonal Demystify Death Nature Walks in Glencarlyn Park in central Arlington that connect the seasons of nature, the seasons of our lives, grief, and mortality. The park itself Glencarlyn Park is part of the Old Growth Forest Network, and it has a diverse human history that includes Indigenous Peoples, European settlers, enslaved African-Americans, and urban visitors who arrived via the railroad in the 1800s. It has seen a lot of life and a lot of death.

I came to this work after my own profound season of grief: over a three-year period from 2022-2025, five members of my family died: all three of my amazing uncles, a treasured aunt, and my beloved grandmother. Supporting people through grief with the seasonal nature walks has helped with my own. Someday, I may even be able to talk about my grandmother without tears flowing. 

On our walks, I invite space for multiple kinds of grief: ambiguous grief due to an unexpected job loss or divorce, anticipatory grief for a loved one with dementia, or grief for the state of our world. My prompts allow internal reflections about loved ones who have died and their impacts on our lives. Sharing together while connecting with nature brings my clients and me solace and opens space for joy. The forest is our container. If you’d like to join us and have the forest be part of your healing process, please consider coming out on Sunday, October 25th from 2:30-4:00pm or Sunday November 1st from 3:00-4:30 pm. 

✨WHAT WE’RE READING✨

by Ali Brill, DCDC Advisory Council & Book Club facilitator

✨UPCOMING CALENDAR✨

The list below highlights supporting member events and DCDC events. For our full, more broad-reaching community calendar, head on over to our website.

 MULTIPLE DEATH CAFÉ LOCATIONS

💛 Conversations Over Cake | Thursday, October 22nd, 2026 | 6:00PM-7:30PM 📍 Arlington Courthouse Library, 2100 Clarendon Boulevard, Arlington, VA. Join us for tea, cake, and talks of our mortal coil in a beautiful setting. More information can be found here. Hosted by DCDC supporting member Stephanie Dillemuth. 

💛 Linthicum Library | Tuesday, October 27th, 2026 | 6:00PM-7:00PM 📍400 Shipley Road, Linthicum Heights, Maryland, 21090. RSVP to supporting member Jamie Arthurs.

💛 UUCA, Arlington | Wednesday, October 28th; Wednesday, November 18th | 6:30PM-8:00PM 📍Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington (UUCA), 4444 Arlington Boulevard, Arlington, VA. Led by Kristen P. Patterson, long-time UUCA member. For more info, please reach out at 703-829-9615 or by email.

💛 All Souls Unitarian Church | Sunday, November 1st; Sunday, December 6th, 2026 | 12:10 PM–1:30 PM 📍 1500 Harvard Street NW. Join DCDC co-chair Leslie Tolf for a monthly cafe gathering. You can find more information here. 

💛 Beloved Yoga + Wellness | Wednesday, November, 4th; Wednesday, December 2nd, 2026; January 6th, 2027| 7:00 PM–8:00 PM 📍11109 Sunset Hills Road Reston, VA. Hosted by DCDC supporting member, Kristina Davies. You can find more information here.

💛 Legacy Letter Workshop | Monday, October 19th 7:00 PM-8:30 PM | 📍Virtual | Register

Do you want to write your own legacy letter? Join this virtual workshop to craft one! Through reflective questions, you will distill your memories, values, favorite rituals, and lessons learned into a letter that you can pass on to your loved ones. Hosted by DCDC supporting member and death doula Kristen P. Patterson of Sacred Journey Death Doula. 

💛 Pet Death Cafe + Memorial Making | Tuesday, October 20th, 6:00 PM-7:30 PM | 📍Meander Art Bar, 1801 E Lombard St, Baltimore, MD | Register. 

Join DCDC Supporting Member Alexis Mitchell of Pawticular Pet Care for a special death cafe offering. Participants with make an art memorial for your pet's ofrenda. Share stories about the animals you've loved and lost, then create a keepsake piece to display in your home for this year's Pet Day of the Dead. 

💛 Death Wish Podcast Season 2 Launch Party | Saturday, October 24th, 6:00 PM-9:00 PM | 📍Sudhouse, 1340 U St, Washington, DC | RSVP

Caitlin, Kaylin, Megan, and Kris prepare for death… and as they do, make you a show about it. Check them out here on spotify, and over here and substack!

💛 Death Over Drafts | Sunday, October 25th, 4:00 PM-6:00 PM | 📍Lost Boy Cider, 317 Hooffs Run Dr, Alexandria, VA | RSVP

Death Over Drafts is back! Join DCDC member + host Stephanie Dillemuth for a night of bevs, good company, and good conversation. Think of it as a happy hour where morbid humor or deep insights are not only not weird, but welcomed.

💛 Demystify Death Nature Walk | Sunday, October 25th, 2:30 PM-4:00 PM; Sunday, November 1st, 3:00 PM-4:30 PM  | 📍Glencarlyn Park, 401 S. Harrison St. Arlington, VA 22204 | Register

Join a small group for an intimate walk in nature where we will connect the seasons of our lives. We will contemplate our mortality through mindful observation of the natural world and gentle reflections. Hosted by DCDC member and Arlington-based death doula Kristen P. Patterson of Sacred Journey Death Doula.

💛 Bones & Scones: A Supporting Member Brunch Event! | Saturday, December 12, 2026 | 11:00 PM - 2:00 PM 📍 Members: invitations are in your inbox!

Join DCDC volunteers and supporting members at our end-of-year potluck brunch! If you could choose your last meal, what would it be? In the spirit of our collective mortality, we invite you to join us and bring the dish that you’ll be thinking about on your deathbed — and the story behind it. Become a supporting member by visiting our website.