HOUGHTON — Having taught classes on childbirth and death, Carolyn Peterson has seen the fear that come with both.

“The message is to talk about things ahead of time, make plans,” she said. “It’s not an easy conversation, but it’s a really important conversation to have.”

Peterson is facilitator for “Embracing Mortality,” a five-week course starting later this month that explores the end-of-life options available in the Keweenaw and help them approach the end of life without fear. The course, which starts Jan. 21, will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday afternoons in the library at The Bluffs in Houghton.

The course will include group discussions, as well as guest speakers, including a hospice nurse, geriatrician and funeral director.

The courses give people plenty of time to share stories about their relationship to death, both good and bad.

“It’s a fun course,” Peterson said. “We laugh a lot, which is hard to believe.”

For the most part, it’s not people who are near death themselves who take the course, Peterson said. Some people have recently gone through the death of a family member, or have experienced a tough transition such as putting a loved one in a nursing home.

Peterson hopes the class can help people add joy and meaning to the rest of their lives.

“If we could be better at dying, and better and helping people die, we can be better at living,” Peterson said.

For more information and to pre-register, contact facilitator Carolyn Peterson at 482-4696 or ccpeter650@hotmail.com.