Eulogy for the living.
The word “eulogy” comes from the Greek, eulogia, which means praise. Logia comes from logos, or “word.”
In our culture, we deliver eulogies after someone has died. I’ve long been annoyed by the practice. Why would we want to wait until someone is gone to praise all the wonderful things about them?
This annoys me partly because I’ve been to memorial services of family members and people come out of the woodwork - people I’ve never met - who tell me the greatest things about my loved one. Which, okay, admittedly that’s nice. But what did they say to the person when said person was alive? Did my relative ever know they felt that way?
And I suppose the other reason it annoys me is that I think when I die, I don’t want a bunch of people to suddenly start talking all nice about me. If you think I’m great, why don’t you tell it to me now while I can breathe and appreciate it?
In case you’re wondering, I do practice what I preach in this regard. And sometimes people think me overly sentimental. I don’t care what they think. I’m doing it anyway. I don’t want to miss the opportunity. And I’ve said this countless times to people I know: if you love someone, or even mildly appreciate them, tell them.
It occurs to me now that I have a blog, I can say this to more people than just my immediate circle of friends. So here goes: If you love someone, or even if you only mildly appreciate them, I urge you to tell them. Tell them in person, send them a text message, an email, or tell them on their blog. Just tell them.
July 27th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Carolyn,
I think you are a very smart woman with a lot of talent. I think one of your biggest strengths is your ability to reach out and hug someone through an email! You’re also very funny. You make me smile a lot. :0)
H
July 27th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Heather, you’re so awesome.
I’m going over to your blog right now to tell you that!
July 28th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
You’re so right, Carolyn. Let me take this opportunity to say that I appreciate the support you’ve shown me and admire your thirst for learning.
I’ll be doing the photo course soon and am following your progress.
Keep it up!
August 5th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Carolyn, one reason I love to read your writing is because you offer perspectives on topics that I might not have considered on my own; this post is a perfect example of that. I want to say thank you. I think Heather and Christie were right on too, so for their comments, let me just say “ditto.”