Eulogies

Eulogy examples

Example 1

Mother loved books, she also loved to read in peace most days. One of her favourite authors was George Eliot, who made mention of loving his mother’s face. Well, we all loved her. And she loved us all too.

Mother got into bed with us at night and sang us lullabies. She knew how to comfort us. She always played records from the musicals so that we all knew them before we started nursery. I hear them still now, in my mind and they remind me of mum and those summer afternoons when she loved to play her music.

Example 2

Mum, as you know, had a quiet passion for literature. One of her favourite authors; George Eliot; wrote: “Life began with waking up and loving my mother’s face”

A beautiful observation, so very true. We all loved her instantly; a love that never faltered on our part or hers.

When I was small, she held me close at bedtime; the faded smell of her perfume clung sweetly to my little nose. She sang me lullabies and tenderly stroked my forehead until I gave in to sleep.

On sunny, summer Sunday afternoons mum loved to play her records on the gramophone. The crackle from the needle on the vinyl was something really nostalgic for mum. We listened to songs from the musicals so often, that before I started nursery, I knew them by heart.

Songs which still play in my mind, recalling those days when the sunlight caught mum’s face through the window, and she looked like an Angel to my four-year-old self.

The second example makes you think about the finer details. Quoting from mum’s favourite book shows interest and meaning. The smell of mum’s perfume will be something never forgotten, and a powerful reminder of love and loss. The sensation of the forehead being stroked and how that invoked a sleepiness. The joy music played in their lives; not just how it was listened to, but where and when and what came from it. The crackle of an old record player, the sun shining through a window onto a face. The child’s brain connecting that image and feeling to their idea of an angel. Twice as many words but what a difference.

More examples also capturing senses

Example 3

Catherine’s favourite film was Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. Catherine admired Audrey’s beauty and class. She gently raised an ‘approving’ eyebrow at Gregory’s pecs. With her feet tucked underneath her to keep them warm; Catherine settled down to her favourite movie with a cup of hot chocolate and a box of Maltesers.

She loved to float the little honeycomb balls in her drink and with an occasional ‘ouch’ and an ‘arghh’; Catherine fished them from the piping hot liquid, savouring them before the chocolate had fully melted.

That empty space Catherine occupied on the sofa always makes me think of her there, with her fluffy socks and chocolate fingertips and the sweet smell of her hot sugary drink.

Example 4

Picture the scene; You’re in an upstairs room, of a beautifully kept house. You see Pat, just a few years ago. She is stood with a paint brush in her hand. There is a pot of paint beside her. In the room is a bed – with a sturdy frame. There is a length of rope and an open window. What is about to happen?

Well, I will tell you.

Septuagenarian Pat is about to bungee out of her bedroom window to paint the external walls of her house. Yes, Pat lived her life on the edge; Once she set her mind to a task it would be done! And if that meant tying a rope around her waist and dangling from a window to paint a wall, she would.

After all, that was far more exciting than googling for a decorator!