What Were They Like? A Memory Sharing Circle

Join us for a hot drink, a slice of cake and an opportunity to share memories and tell stories about the people you love who have died. I’ve found that there aren’t many opportunities in day to day life to share stories about someone we love who has died. And yet, I have found it to be so comforting to speak their name and share memories of what they liked, what they experienced and how they lived. When we do this, we are proclaiming, “they existed, they keep existing in my heart, always”. With a hot drink and some cake (provided), come sit in a circle and tell us what your person was like. This is an opportunity to speak uninterrupted about them, for your memories to be heard and witnessed. There will be a variety of prompt cards to choose from to help spark stories and to help you focus on which memories you’d like to share. Sharing time will be split equally between everyone, with gentle reminders of when your time is coming to an end. (Prompts will be open, broad themes such as “music”, ‘food”, “holidays”, “object”.) I invite you to bring an object connected to your person, as a prompt for sharing something about them. This could be a photograph, an item of clothing, a piece of jewellery or anything that brings back or stirs memories of them. We will end the session with a very short sound meditation - an opportunity to close your eyes or lower your gaze and reflect on the memories shared before going back out into the world. The space will be held by Kathy and Libby. Kathy is a multi-instrumentalist who facilitates group spaces to explore how music and rituals can be used to soothe the wounds of grief. She co-facilitates Holistic Harmonies’ end of life hospital project and is also embarking on training to become an end of life doula. Kathy will be supported by Libby - Libby is a grief-tending facilitator with a background in psychology and lived experience of personal loss. She brings a gentle, attuned presence to support people in their grief. She is also a specialist volunteer for Holistic Harmonies’ end of life hospital project, offering compassionate care for patients and their families.