Writing your own eulogy: It’s your story, you should tell it

An emerging tradition these days that’s popping up and being requested more and more, includes preplanning your own eulogy. Many people want a voice in not only what’s said about them, but also in sharing what they found to be most meaningful in their own life.

In addition to the eulogy itself that’s created, most people find the process of writing their own eulogy to be extremely therapeutic. Here’s how we help.

The Process of Writing your own eulogy with us

We start by having you review and fill out the memory collection form on our site after you place your order. This is a great way to start the process and the flow of memories.

If you’ve ordered an online experience we review your memory collection form and contact you with any questions and clarification we may need. It’s an ongoing conversation, albeit done via email at your request.

If you’ve ordered a eulogy with a phone consultation, we schedule that as soon as you’ve ordered and submitted your memory collection form. I personally really enjoy these phone consultations, talking and getting to know the person on the other end of the form. We review what you’ve shared and we help you unearth more of what you want to say to the people you love.

Eulogies read in the first person, in your own voice, are incredibly powerful.

After our phone consultation we get to work creating a eulogy in your words that will bring comfort and peace, and even laughter, to the people you love! You get to select who you’d like to read it when the time comes and make that plan in advance.

What types of things do people say?

Some people recall some of their favorite memories and some of the lessons they’ve learned that they want the people they love to hold on to. Some people share the experiences that shaped them in life and how they grew as a result. Many people share short messages of comfort, and even humor to their family members. The options are endless and should reflect who you are and whatever you want to convey.

Sample Excerpt from a pre-written eulogy

“Good afternoon. I’m Josie, Deanne’s daughter and I’m here to share some final words from my mom.

She told me that she’d like the opportunity to share the parts of her life that were exceptionally meaningful and she asked me if I would be willing to read it for her at her memorial service. This didn’t surprise me. And if you knew my mom, this shouldn’t surpise you either. She always did things her way. (pause laughter)

Of course I said yes.

So here are some final words directly from my mom to each and every one of us.

I’ve thought about wanting to write my own eulogy ever since I saw an article about it. I hesitated at first, wondering what I would say. Would people find it odd? How would it be received?

And then I thought, “who cares?” (pause laughter)

If you’re here and you knew me, you’d know that what other people thought of me didn’t always rank at the top of my list of considerations when making a decision. (pause laughter)

That isn’t to say I didn’t care what people thought about the important stuff. That’s just to say that I tried hard in my life to never let the fear of that stop me from doing something I really wanted to do. I do believe that has served me well in my life.

One of my favorite examples was the time…”