
Choose Life:
A Eulogy For My Mother
After
a long illness, my mother p
assed
aw
ay in June 2006. Even though we
all knew she h
ad little time left, her de
ath still c
ame
as
a shock.
My brothers helped me write the eulogy,
and I delivered it. I
almost m
ade it through, m
aint
aining my composure
and humor right to the end. But, fin
al goodbyes
are never e
asy. With the l
ast sentence,
a poign
ant
and person
al mess
age to our mother from my brothers
and myself, I lost it. To cry
at your mother’s funer
al is n
atur
al
and expected. But being
an
author,
and being comfort
able with public spe
aking, I thought I could m
an
age it. I humbly
acknowledge grief trumped self-control.
And then there
are the rel
atives
and friends, m
any of which I h
adn’t seen in dec
ades. Of course, one must
alw
ays be polite
and gr
acious when someone offers condolences
and
a symp
athetic hug. But, wh
at do you do when you h
aven’t
a clue who the devil the person is? Ye
ars p
ass, people ch
ange. More th
an once, I h
ad to discreetly
ask
a trusted rel
ative, “Who is th
at?” Then, I h
ad to hide my shocked expression when I re
alized time h
as been kinder to me th
an to others of my bloodline, or to my old friends.