"Welcome to our not-a-final," Didi said cheerfully as the class filed in. If she was a bit shaken by the nightmare that had frightened her awake, or by the general air of trouble covering the island that morning, she wasn't showing it. "We're having another discussion. We've talked -- or I've talked, anyhow --- a lot about how death is the one ( Read more... )

There was no Didi and no class today.

There was, however, a note on the door.

No class today! Just take some candy and see you next week!

And then an arrow pointing down to a bucket of candy canes (with a side of latkes, because they were everywhere today). Didi figured the sugar would make up for the walk to class.

[OOC So I kind of forgot it ( Read more... )

The classroom was normal today, beanbag chairs and all, and Didi had decided she didn't mind the holiday lights. They were festive.

"Hey," she said easily, as the students gathered. "Today we're talking about mourning fashion. Different cultures have different rituals, of course. For example, in India mourners wear white, and white was the color ( Read more... )

"Morning," Didi said, from her perch atop the desk. "So we've spent most of the class so far talking about death. That's the big type of loss, right? It's the one that's inevitable, and it's permanent. Well, normally ( Read more... )

"I got nothing," Didi admitted cheerfully as the class assembled. "Sorry. I had stuff to take care of back home all week and I just got back to the island. Good thing is, that means you guys get a movie. It's about Mexican folklore and especially a holiday they celebrated last week, the Day of the Dead. Enjoy it."

And then she hit play.

Didi somehow got her classroom warm and cozy despite the lack of electricity, and she had popcorn balls and spiced apple cider out of the students to snack on, but the blackout had still caused some unavoidable changes to her class plans ( Read more... )

Hopefully the students would be all right with an early lunch, because today class would take place around a table groaning with food. Baked ham sliders, funeral potatoes, chicken spaghetti and seven-layer salad were among the dishes on the table, with funeral pie and Texas sheet cake sat ready to slice on a sideboard ( Read more... )

"Hi, people," Didi said easily, once the students were gathered. "This week I wanted to talk about the Kübler-Ross model of grief. If that doesn't ring a bell, I bet it will once I get a little more into it ( Read more... )

The students who made it to class today would have a novel experience indeed. Death -- and today she was Death, no Didi about it -- had lost her usual air of calm good cheer, and instead looked perturbed and vaguely sullen.

Her father had told her to expect a visit. Her father never visited"Hi," she said, slouching into a bean bag chair. "I know ( Read more... )

"Welcome back," Didi said, from her usual desktop perch. "Sorry I couldn't make it last week, but I hear Atton did a good job."

"We're watching part of a movie called Justifying Your Existence today. It's about a guy who was so afraid of things his whole life that he never really lived, and now he's dead and he has to convince the people in Heaven ( Read more... )