They may not remember exactly what you said, but they will remember how you made them feel in this moment, often for the rest of their lives.
“Larry, do you write eulogies for a living?” asked the East Texas Pastor who officiated my Father-in-Law’s memorial service, after I had given my remembrance speech.
I replied, “No, entertainment is my trade. I advise performing artists, recording artists and actors how to best present themselves on stage.”
“You don’t write eulogies professionally? You ought to. I am sure glad that I did not have to follow you in the ceremony. I am genuinely astounded! Your speech must be the best remembrance I have ever heard in 35 years of my ministry.”
A few years later, I have taken the Pastor’s words to heart.
“We shoulda done been there.”
Robert L. “Papa” King (1902-1989)
Papa King was a magical presence in his grandchildren’s lives – I am one of them. I did not write a eulogy for him, but if I had, I would have started it with this quote, which is something he would say to my grandmother, Thelma E. King (1904-1996), when he was in a hurry to go somewhere and she wasn’t quite ready. I would have referenced this quote – this was something he would say again and again in his North Carolina accent – throughout the speech, with a final repetition at the end: “We shoulda done been there, Papa King. Well Papa, today you got there – I wish we coulda done left it at shoulda done. Thank you all for coming to honor my much beloved grandfather, Robert L. ‘Papa’ King.”
When a loved one transitions into memory, those who survive remember whom they know that person to be. We share those memories, speaking from the heart, with others who know and love him or her at a service honoring a life well lived.
You might notice that I describe your loved one in the present tense, as if he or she is here. Well, that person is here still, and you are keeping them here, even if just to say goodbye for the last time.
Saying goodbye to someone you love dearly is hard. You are a bundle of sadness, nerves, and conflicting impulses, and you have so, so much to do to organize, often unexpectedly or at the last minute, a service to honor and remember someone you have lost.
At the same time, you will have a flood of memories to organize into a speech about just who that loved one is.
Saying words over someone can be challenging, particularly if you are not comfortable speaking to an audience of people who are sad to see their loved one or friend depart this life.
Here’s how I can help you.
I prepare your script and insert cues to help you deliver a remembrance speech that your audience will talk about long after the service closes. My approach is more focused on the stories of the loved one’s life — who they are — rather than a long recitation of facts about them. The run-time of each remembrance will vary depending on the stories, ordinarily between about 8, as short as 3 if there are time constraints, or for a particularly compelling set of stories, as much as 15 minutes. Some people, often Funeral Directors, believe that a 15 minute Remembrance is entirely too long. They are usually right, until they hear one of my speeches.
For details about how I write Remembrance & Eulogy Speeches and samples of my work, including an analysis of what the sample eulogy communicates, please press the buttons below:
To hire me to write a Remembrance & Eulogy Speech:
My fee for writing a Eulogy is $500, paid in advance*. I can get quite busy, so before you pay me, please text me at 512-940-0298 to make sure that I am available to help you within the timeframe you need. Please press the button below for more information and to engage my services in writing a Eulogy.
This is all original, custom work made on your behalf on your demand on a short, mission critical deadline, ordinarily delivered within 24-72 hours. The final words are yours to do whatever you would like with them, including printing them in a program or publishing in any format you desire.
*Once I deliver a speech or obituary to you, even in draft form, there is no incentive for you to pay my fee once you have my writing in hand. That’s why you pay me in advance.