The joy of a good eulogy

For us, the highlight of any funeral are the eulogies, the tributes paid to celebrate the life and achievements of some truly remarkable people. Whether spoken by the priest or by family members, we very much enjoy hearing of lives lived to the full, of family achievements and holidays, tricks played by kids long grown up and favourite pets.

Especially inspiring are the tributes to the senior generation who died in their 90s, having lived through WWII and the many changes to British society since. We've heard about butchers by Royal appointment, engineerings, publicans, military men, council workers and dedicated mothers and housewives from a generation who respected this as a full-time and demanding job in it own right.

Much as we enjoy the favourite poems too, its those personal, family-written eulogies that get to us every time.

Sometimes family members find it difficult and say they couldn’t think of the right words, so a eulogy is omitted or very short and sweet. This is fine, it feels as if something is missing. one of the best solutions to this came at a funeral recently.

Idea for family euology

The family members said: “I find it difficult to write and don’t know what to say, so we came up with this idea.  We’re going to read a list of the things mum liked and didn’t like.”
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Boy was this effective, i went a way feeling I knew this woman who loved sunshine, flowers, cooking and family life, but woe betide those who didn’t have clean shoes or ate food whilst walking down the street.
Without fail, we go away from these funerals thinking "I hope I achieve as much as them by their age!"