More strangers are gathering over cake and tea to chat — about dying.

• Why it matters: Death comes for all of us. Meetups known as Death Cafes help make talking about it less taboo.

Catch up quick: The concept launched in 2011 in East London, according to the Death Cafe site.

• Now, groups meet all over the world, in many types of settings. More than 11,000 Death Cafes are listed in the U.S.

💬 How it works: Death Cafes allow for "a tangible, factual, honest conversation around death," Aly Leija, 33, of San Antonio, tells Axios. She's attended events virtually and in person.

• Most participants share what brought them to the group, says Leija, herself a death doula who sits with patients at the end of their lives.
• Discussion topics range from mortality to cremation and burial options.

👀 Between the lines: A Death Cafe is not "a grief group, a counseling session, or a place to push religious or other spiritual agendas," she says.

⏳ The bottom line: Talking about death is "a crazy good reminder to live every single day," says Leija.

• You know the phrase YOLO?
• "I like to argue that you only die once, [but] you live every single day," she says.

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Cherry blossom trees in bloom yesterday along the National Mall, in stage five of blooming known as "puffy white."

• The final stage, or "peak bloom," is expected between March 29 and April 1.