Newsletter #5: September 2025
Hi friends,
Could it be? A chill, crisp air about us — finally! As the season shifts, so too does our rhythm, and I’m excited to share a few new ways we’ll be gathering this month.
We’re kicking off something we’re all excited about: a monthly happy hour! They’ll be hosted at KBird DC by our very own K Scarry. If you haven’t been yet, KBird is a hip, colorful joint in to Logan Circle neighborhood with all kinds of community programming — exactly our kind of place.
We’re also adding a new Death Café at All Souls Unitarian Church, hosted by steering committee member Leslie Tolf. Come join for and share your thoughts on mortality, big and small.
Another exciting note: you may spot DCDC t-shirts on the streets soon! Our first little round of merch is rolling into production. We’re keeping things simple — shirts at cost (tanks! long sleeve! short sleeve!), a sweatshirt, a tote bag, caps. Reach out if you’d like details — we’ll be rolling them out on the website soon.
A call for contributions: this newsletter is meant to hold not just updates, but your voices. Do you have something you’d like to share? New rituals you’re trying, people you’re meeting, questions you’re asking? Even a call for support or collaboration? We’d love to feature your writing here. Consider a 200-300 word submission.
And finally: DCDC steering committee member Sam Stebbins will be hosting an open house tonight from 7p-8p ET on zoom. Drop in, say hi, ask any questions you might have about our project, meet some friendly (and maybe now some familiar) faces.
In care,
Robin Miniter, Co-Founder of The DC Death Collective
WHAT WE’RE READING
by Ali Brill, DCDC Steering Committee Member
This month, our Memento Mori Book Club is reading Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. We’ll be gathering again at local cocktail bar and community gathering space, Kbird DC, to discuss it on Thursday, September 25th from 6:30-8p. If you can’t make the weekday, we’ll meet again at People’s Book in Takoma Park, MD, on Sunday, September 28th from 6-7p. Drop me a line and I will send you the invite!
Being Mortal is our second selection authored by a surgeon (the first was Paul Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air)! Is anyone else astounded by the ability of these medical professionals to put a body back together AND write so poetically?! So far, Gawande’s book is proving to be an insightfully honest account of the medical field’s naivety and discomfort around death and dying. As Gawande shares his early assumption—that medicine always triumphs—he continues to say,
“The shock to me therefore was seeing medicine not pull people through. I knew theoretically that my patients could die, of course, but every actual instance seemed like a violation, as if the rules I thought we were playing by were broken. I don’t know what game I thought this was, but in it we always won” (p. 7).
More in my review next month! I hope to see you at one of our upcoming book club meetings!
Ali Brill leads the Memento Mori Book Club in Takoma Park, MD, and Washington, DC
UPCOMING EVENTS
Memento Mori Book Club (Location #1): Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande (DC)
Thursday, September 25, 2025 | 6:30–8:00 PM | Kbird DC, 1333 P St NW, Washington, DC (RSVP to Ali)
Interested in building community around our shared mortality? Join us every other month for casual, thoughtful conversation about death, dying, grief—and ultimately, life. Guided by rotating readings, these gatherings are hosted by death doula Ali Brill on the last Thursday (DC) and Sunday (MD) of every other month.
Holding Grief in Community: A Remembrance Workshop
Friday, September 26, 2025 | 5:45–7:45 PM |Lūneh Yoga, 2000 S St NW Suite 100, Washington, DC
At the turn of the season, the fall equinox is a time for reflection and preparing for wintering, which mirrors this workshop offering. We will create a nurturing space to intentionally remember a loved one, at whatever season of grief you are honoring. Through gentle yoga, guided meditation, and reflective practices, we will explore ways to honor loved ones while fostering personal healing.
Participants will leave with tools to process grief, experience emotional release, and feel more grounded in the present moment.
Hosted by DCDC member Mary Sullivan, a Washington Hospital Center Chaplain death doula. Mary creates meaningful ceremonies to honor The Resting and support The Living as their loved ones pass on. Mary is also a trained kundalini yoga teacher, reiki master, and birth doula.
Memento Mori Book Club (Location #2): Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande (MD)
Sunday, September 28, 2025 | 6:00–7:00 PM | People’s Book, 7014 Westmoreland Ave Suite A, Takoma Park, MD (RSVP to Ali)
The DC Death Collective Monthly Happy Hour
Tuesday, September 30, 2025 | 6:00–7:00 PM | KBird DC, 1333 P St NW
Come join us in Logan Circle for a get together ~ let’s put some names to faces! Bring your curiosity, bring a friend, bring yourself. All are welcome.
DC Death Collective Virtual Check-In
Sunday, October 5, 2025 | 5:00–5:30 PM | Zoom link, no RSVP necessary
A gentle, monthly drop-in. Come say hi. Bring your thoughts, questions, or just your face. Whether you’re knee-deep in this work or quietly circling it, this is a space to connect, reflect, and be in community
Death Cafe at All Souls Unitarian Church
Sunday, November 2, 2025 | 12:15–1:45 PM | 1500 Harvard Street NW
Join DCDC steering committee member Leslie Tolf for the newly launched cafe gathering ~ email her to register.