What if? This is a question we often ask, especially as a reference to less common situations. What if I wrote my own eulogy to be read at my funeral? I never thought about it until now, and I probably should have, because the years fly by, don't they?
I must confess that I have noticed this, I have already noticed that lately, I attend more funerals than parties! It is said that when you notice this situation you have to understand that you are old and you should take care of the eternal ones... that is to say, get ready! They are not the most expected and cheerful preparations but they must be done...
I (still) live in Romania. Romanians are Orthodox Christians and funeral customs do not include a eulogy said or read by family or friends, as I have seen in American or English movies. In Orthodoxy, the priest who officiates the funeral ceremony gives a eulogy to the deceased. A eulogy that really is a eulogy, i.e. it's all praise (as are most of the comments here, when the authors hope to get fatter votes...) of course, the saying "About the dead, only good!" is observed.
I think if this eulogy were written by the dead it would be much more realistic, one who knows he will no longer be in this world when the eulogy is read would not be so eager to present an embellished image of himself.
As I said above, where I live the eulogy of the deceased is done by the priest and because of that I never thought I could write it personally, in advance (haha...). Now, if I was "pushed" to think about it, well, that thought doesn't leave me and I find it quite hard to write this "last writing".
I know it will be a very short eulogy.
I'm thinking of combining the majority perception of people who have known me with my strongest desire to behave in life, from these two components I think this short eulogy for Dan (me) would result...
"All I can say about Dan is that he was a good man, that's what most people who knew him said. I don't think he set a goal in life to be good, that just happened. If I can state one conduct that he has tried to follow, it is to abide by what Jesus said, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her". Now, I hope the priest will forgive Dan, he was not a very convinced Christian and I'm sure that for him "sin" means "mistake"...!
I am convinced that those who will attend this "last journey" of mine will be happy that they were not forced to listen to long praises made mostly of empty words, as usually happens.
Because I wrote about this event happening in the unknown future, I would like to say that initially, I confused "eulogy" with "epitaph". This is because I am not a good connoisseur of the English language, and because I am a confused person, I can say that my life has been marred by confusion. I don't have time now to explain why and how, all I want to say is that for many years I have been impressed by a King Crimson song called "Epitaph"! I am sure that if there will be an epitaph on my grave, it will consist of just one word... "Confusion". That's what will characterize me best!
Confusion will be my epitaph
As I crawl a cracked and broken path
If we make it we can all sit back and laugh
But I fear tomorrow I'll be crying
It's a song to listen to. The soloist is Greg Lake, of course you know, later in EL&P. Huge singer... I don't know what his epitaph is.
I wrote this post inspired by the suggestion made by @galenkp in the weekly [Week 130] Weekend-Engagement concept. Thank you!
