In a recent, and very emotional tribute of a son to his father who had just passed away, he asked a rhetorical question, “How possible is it to condense an entire lifetime of a person to just a few minutes of speech?”. Allow me pose the same question to us for the purpose of this piece.
For this son, his face told it all as it seemed unfathomable for him to describe his late father in very few minutes. He nonetheless had to continue and amid sobs, spoke of the great man his father was. In between the speech, the audience witnessed his struggle to find just the right words to eulogize a father that he shared was caring, humble and his mentor. It was difficult but the task he had to take on.
A eulogy or a funeral speech is a piece of writing or speech that is made in praise or honor of someone who has just died. It is a tribute and as simple as this sounds, can be quite hard and tasking to put together when called upon to. For the aforementioned son, his expression bordered on a feeling that his words could not have been sufficient to describe his father, and especially the fear of these words coming off as an insult to his memory and who he really was, if he failed to do a good job.
How do you condense the lifetime of a person who has lived a life rich of impact and influence in very few but meaningful words? Definitely is a daunting task. A Eulogy serves to give others a glimpse of who the deceased was, at least by those who were privileged to personally interact with them. Let’s look at how we make one.
We use the word construct because it is piecing together many blocks that represent the departed from different aspects of their lives. A eulogy basically assumes the place of someone’s history written or spoken out after their demise. It is their story told through the eyes of another or others. It may be filled with deep emotions as it tries to best bring out the unique character, personality, traits and personal encounters with, and of a loved one.
The most important element of a Eulogy is that it is heartfelt and sincere. It will move the audience to tears though the intent was just to tell a story. But this does matter!
The introduction can also be part of the Biography as it just should introduce this person to the world to let them know when and where they were born., who their parents and siblings were. This can just be plainly put with dates being stated, and the family members being included by name. This should complete the intro part of a eulogy.
For this part, their childhood life, transition into adulthood and family life should be mentioned. In addition to this, their education milestones, professional achievements, and any accolades they received will be a cherry on top of this cake. These can all be intertwined with their personal stories, that will bring to life the character or essence of who they were to the listeners. Sometimes a real story gives a lot more information than many adjectives would. It also makes it feel very personal.
Have you heard of the expression ‘A picture is worth 100 words’? This couldn’t be truer when we are eulogizing a loved one. Photographs help us tell stories that cannot be put in simple or few words. In the eulogy print, feel free to include photos that can start from the deceased’s childhood to the latest stages of their life. These photos will mostly capture their family life, social life, adventure and even professional life if you are lucky to get some photos with colleagues, both former and current. The photos also have a way of putting a smile on the already very sad faces, as each person relates with them in their unique ways as they remember the dearly departed.
This is the part that we can include, very briefly about the death itself. The details of the cause of death can be left under the discretion of the family to reveal or not to reveal. They have the privilege to decide what they want the readers or readers to know. It is important to add however, that one of the reasons why we may need to include a little detail on the actual cause of death is essentially to give closure to the mourners; at least to a certain level. Remember some may have just received news of death with no background information, so out of kindness and perhaps courtesy a little of that can be included in the Eulogy.
These are short stories of a few people, representing different parts of the family, friends and/or colleagues, about the deceased and how the deceased directly impacted their individual lives or circles of influence. Tributes are quite heartfelt and are meant to give the audience the truest glimpse of the deceased’s personality, character, and influence on the lives of others while they lived.
The final part of a written Eulogy can include lyrics to a song or poetry that the deceased particularly liked or that can well resonate with the mourners. Alternatively, a vote of thanks can be included alongside any piece of work the deceased had done if they were an artiste, author or if they had any special work that can be displayed in words or photos.
Finally, how about we address this question. As earlier alluded to, it is not possible to give an entire lifetime of a person in very few pages, but we must in this case. How long may just be determined by the most important details a family chooses to include in the eulogy. If one follows the above details, we can try to keep it to not less than 4 pages and not more than 10 pages. The simple reason being that you want to have a summary that will not tire the reader or give a lot of unnecessary information; but rather aim for the goal to give just enough information, that will leave a beautiful final memory of the deceased in the minds of the readers and or listeners.
Loved the article? Don't miss our monthly compilation.