How we talk about Death?
Story, Memory & Remembrance
Monday, November 30, 2026 · 6:30 p.m.
Mother Foucault’s Bookshop, Portland
Presented by L’École Buissonnière, Dougy Center, and Sabrina Görlitz
In recognition of Children’s Grief Awareness Month.
An evening of storytelling and conversation about death, grief, memory, and the stories we use to make sense of loss.
In the intimate setting of Mother Foucault’s Bookshop, we’ll explore how stories shape the architecture of our lives and how storytelling can open conversations about death that are often difficult to begin, particularly with children.
The evening brings together Dougy Center’s practical experience supporting grieving children and families, writer and hospice companion Sabrina Görlitz’s work with end-of-life storytelling, and Clara-Julia Peru’s cultural and creative exploration of how we remember and tend grief.
The evening will include
1. Supporting Children Through Grief — Ben Toledo, Dougy Center
An introduction to Dougy Center’s work with grieving children, teens, and families, with practical guidance, questions, and resources.
2. The Stories We Inherit — Clara-Julia Peru, L’École Buissonnière
Together, we will open a conversation around the cultural, familial, and personal traditions that shape how we approach death and remembrance.
How do secular approaches, cultural differences, and memorial practices reveal the shrinking of communal time and space for grief in contemporary societies? What stories were we given? Which ones have been lost? Which ones do we want to carry forward, question, or rewrite?
3. The Stories We Tell About Death — Sabrina Görlitz, Writer & Hospice Companion
An introduction to Palligraphy, Sabrina’s work preserving the life stories and words of people nearing the end of life. She will share selected Palligraphies in which parents, grandparents, and other family members speak directly to the children in their lives.
From these stories, Sabrina will explore the idea of re-storying our grief. What happens when we restore a story that has been silenced, fragmented, or de-storied? And what might it mean to re-story grief rather than trying to fix, resolve, or move beyond it?
4. A Small Act of Remembrance — Creative Reflection with Sabrina
To close the evening, participants will be invited into a gentle creative reflection. You’re welcome to bring a small object connected to someone or something you’ve lost and place it on our shared Remembrance Altar. Sharing is entirely optional.
This evening invites us to listen, remember, and consider how making space for stories can help us speak more openly about death—with children, with one another, and across generations.
Sabrina Görlitz
Sabrina Görlitz is a palliative biographer from Hamburg, Germany. Since 2019, she has been listening to and recording the life stories of people nearing the end of life, transforming their words and memories into personal booklets that can be kept or shared with family and friends.
She calls this process Palligraphy, a word she created by bringing together palliative and biography.
A strong believer in the power of story, Sabrina explores how storytelling can help us make sense of the architecture of our lives, particularly in the presence of death, grief, and profound transition.
For this evening, she will share excerpts from her Palligraphies and reflect on how families, communities, and institutions might find new ways to tell—and re-tell—the stories of grief.
https://en.storycare.de
The Dougy Center, based in Portland, Oregon, provides support in a safe place where children, teens, young adults, and their families grieving a death can share their experiences. Through peer support groups, education, and resources, Dougy Center helps families navigate grief and encourages open, honest conversations about death and loss.
For this evening, Ben Toledo will introduce Dougy Center’s mission and work, sharing practical guidance and resources to help adults support grieving children and create space for conversations about loss.
https://www.dougy.org
Clara-Julia Peru
Clara-Julia Peru is a French-American artist, educator, and board member of L’École Buissonnière, a Portland-based nonprofit dedicated to art, literature, music, and creative expression. Her work brings together cultural traditions, storytelling, and the arts to explore the experiences that connect us as individuals and communities.
Through her ongoing project Tending Grief, Clara-Julia explores how art, nature, and shared cultural practices can help us make space for loss, remembrance, and life’s transitions.
https://cijipi.com
Free event · RSVP required
Space is limited to 20 participants. Please RSVP in advance to reserve your spot.