This might be the most unusual dinner invitation you have ever received, but bear with me. I think we are in for a remarkable experience.

Survey after survey has shown that 100% of respondents eventually die at some point.

Three quarters of Americans say they want to spend their last days at home surrounded by loved ones.  Only one quarter get their wish.

Just over half of all Medicare dollars are spent on patients who die within two months, and over 40% of bankruptcies are precipitated by end-of-life expenses.

Clearly our health care system is broken.  So is our death care system. 

"Let's Have Dinner and Talk About Death" aims to inspire people to talk about an often-not-discussed topic—death and dying. As the opening statement on the website DeathOverDinner.org notes, "How we want to die represents the most important and costly conversation America isn’t having.”

The dinner table is the most forgiving place for difficult conversation. The ritual of breaking bread creates warmth and connection, and puts us in touch with our humanity. It offers an environment that is more suitable than the usual places we discuss end of life.

Following our October 9 Assembly on end-of-life options, I would be honored if you would join a small, intimate group of Sunday Assemblers for dinner to engage in this conversation. This is not meant to be a morbid conversation, but instead a very human one where we consider what we want, both in life and in death. Through sharing our thoughts and feelings on this subject, we can more readily move through our fears, shed inhibitions, and forge deeper understanding and connection with our loved ones.

I’m inviting you to be my guest at Shojin Downtown, a Japanese vegan restaurant in Little Tokyo, near DTLA, for this unusual evening.  To facilitate the conversation, some readings and online resources, as well as the specific location, will be shared with the participants before the date.

If you cannot join us on Oct. 27 in Little Tokyo, Ian Dodd and Margot Page are hosting a parallel event two days later on Saturday, Oct. 29 in Culver City.  Please see the page for their event: Death Over Dinner with Margot & Ian