Author of Lebanon County Reads selection to speak at Beth Israel

This year’s Lebanon County Reads selection, The Collected Regrets of Clover, tells the story of a young woman who is a “death doula” — that is, someone who helps individuals and their families navigate end of life.

On Wednesday, Sept. 10, author Mikki Brammer will discuss her book for the Congregation Beth Israel Steven Buzgon Annual Lecture series. Tickets for the reception and lecture are available at county libraries.

The selection of the fictional death doula provided a novel opportunity to pair book discussions with conversations about illness and dying facilitated by Aging Inspired Advance Care Planning (ACP) Coalition and the Community Health Council of Lebanon County.

The first of those paired events drew more than a dozen attendees who recently came to the Annville Public Library to talk about the book and experience a Death Café. Clover Brooks, the titular character of Brammer’s book, frequently attends such informal cafes where people share thoughts on what are generally considered taboo topics — namely, death, dying, grief.

Read More: Death café: a new way to discuss end-of-life issues

Death doulas and death cafes were new to several of Brammer’s characters as well as to some of those at the Annville library discussion.

“It’s not easy to talk about death, but it’s so important for people to understand the need for conversations with loved ones as they approach the end of their lives,” said Roberta Geidner, co-coordinator of the ACP coalition who facilitated the discussion at the Annville library and who leads virtual Death Cafes every quarter.

Indeed, much of the book revolves around a family that refuses to acknowledge that the matriarch, 91-year-old Claudia, is dying, so Clover helps Claudia with the details of death, such as cremation and funeral planning. More importantly Clover’s calm demeanor and compassion allows Claudia to share the passions, dreams and regrets that she kept secret from her family.

At the end of her life, Claudia discovers how deeply she was loved, and Clover decides to follow Claudia’s advice to embrace the unknown and “be cautiously reckless.”

At the Annville Death Café, the book provided an easy segue into participants’ sharing their experiences of a family member’s or friend’s death and the ways they honored and grieved those lives. Information also was shared as Geider talked about advance directives or documents that detail what a person wants for care and the importance of identifying healthcare agents who don’t have to be family members but who will honor those preferences.

“Many people have not experienced someone’s decline and death, so they are unaware of what to expect and how to plan for it,” Geidner said. “That is why these educational sessions are so important — so that people can choose and discuss with their families the quality of life they want at the end.”

Each year all six Lebanon County libraries participate in Lebanon County Reads, which runs from summer to early fall and culminates with an author visit. For more information on the program and Brammer’s upcoming lecture, visit the library system website and click “Author Visit.” Tickets are also available online.

More information on the ACP Coalition’s fall programs are also available online.