After a Bellingham cremation for your loved one, you will most likely plan a memorial service to honor them. While many people think that eulogies are part of just funeral services, eulogies are also very common in memorial services.

What is a eulogy and why do we have them?

Eulogies are speeches that are presented, either in funeral services or memorial services, as a tribute to someone who has died. Eulogies are usually given by close friends or family member of the deceased because these people all knew the person intimately. This means they are in the best position to talk about the things that eulogies are meant to bring out about a life well lived.

Eulogies are designed to capture and express the thoughts and feelings reflected in collective mourning for someone who has died. Eulogies tend to focus on the character, the legacy, and the impact of the deceased.

Because of this, eulogies usually include stories about the deceased that the speaker knew about first-hand or heard about from someone else. The stories will share memories of who and what the deceased was in their everyday life.

These stories may include things that nobody else know abouts, and they are intended to bring comfort and happiness to both the grieving family and to other mourners.

Eulogies are spoken from the heart. They are unadorned and authentic recollections that highlight how the deceased impacted the world in a positive way during their lifetime. Eulogies are very personal because the people giving them were close to the deceased and knew them extremely well.

The person giving the eulogy might have known the deceased all their lives because they grew up together and went through the ups and downs of life together without losing their closeness, even if time and, sometimes, distance separated them.

Many eulogies will use a theme and frame the narrative of the deceased’s life around it.

If the deceased served in their local community, the eulogy might be centered on how they positively impacted the community. This will include highlighting the deceased’s dedication to, care of, and concern for the friends and neighbors who lived around them.

Faith and devotion to God may be a theme that may be used in a eulogy for someone who’s life centered around spiritual integrity. Usually, with this eulogy them, the deceased’s life will be unwrapped, and its ups and downs recounted against the backdrop of hope, perseverance, and trust in God without wavering. This type of eulogy will also highlight the deceased’s good works and acts of love and kindness throughout their life.

Some eulogies use nature as a metaphor to talk about the life of someone who has died. This theme is perfect for someone who loved nature or who was environmentally conscious.

There are many other themes that eulogies can focus on. These might include devotion to family, devotion to learning, devotion to helping children or the elderly, or devotion to lifting up people who needed a helping hand. Whatever the theme, the stories and the memories will detail how the deceased embodied it.

A final thing that eulogies do is to express, if the person giving it is not an immediate family member, condolences to the bereaved family on behalf of the mourners. Eulogies should also thank mourners for coming to pay their respects to the deceased.

For information about a Bellingham cremation, our compassionate and experienced team at Moles Farewell Tributes & Crematory – Bayview Chapel is here to help.