How to
How to write a eulogy from the stories people tell
You have two days and you are grieving. Here is a method that produces a eulogy people will remember, from the stories that are already in the room.
Collect
Call five people who knew them in different parts of their life. Ask each for one story that shows who they were, and one thing they always said. Record the calls.
Find the line
Read what you have. One sentence will emerge that is the person: a saying of theirs, or something someone said about them. Build the eulogy around it.
Write short
Five minutes. Three stories, the line, and what you will miss. Their words wherever you can use them. Say the hard thing gently if it must be said; leave it out if it need not.
Keep what you collected
The calls you made are the start of a book about them. Keep them.