Wikipeida: A eulogy (from εὐλογία, eulogia, Classical Greek for “praise”) is a speech or writing in praise of a person(s) or thing(s), especially one who recently died or retired or as a term of endearment.
As the eldest of three, the task/honor/responsibility/privilege has fallen to me.
How to say? What to say? To whom?
I think back to the funerals I’ve attended. Not unlike commencement speeches, I remember nothing of the content.
What, then, should be my goal? Inform and exalt? Inspire and introspect?
“I loved my dad” isn’t the message. But what is?
I am him.
Or at least he represents the “me” I seek to be.
The adjectives used to describe him – which may become redundant – are variants of “generous” and “kind” and “curious” and “quiet.”
And there is a guidance in these adjectives provoked by this quirky man. The message is a paradox of influence, and it’s taken me decades to decipher.
This will be my message: the guidance of my dad’s life – and how he had such great impact on so many people, because he didn’t seek to have great impact.