This is the eulogy I wrote for my mother’s funeral. I wrote it late the night before, having put off the task with the hope and expectation that there would be some last-minute divine intervention. And there was! I think my mother was watching and decided she could not let me fuck this one up. It’s not perfect, but it is what I actually read. As you can see, the ideas that I’m sorting out in this blog have been with me the whole time.

“On behalf of my family, I want to thank everyone for coming. It means so much to us to have you here to honor my mother’s life.

As her daughter, and probably as anyone who knew her well, it’s hard to know what person and life to honor. In a lot of ways I think my mother led two distinct lives. The first part, which thankfully was the largest, was filled with passion, adventure and achievement. She was a very sensitive person, and she put love into everything. She traveled the world, dedicated years of her life to environmental protection, she was a devoted teacher, and of course, a mother.  One of the nicest, and most difficult, things for me to hear over the past few weeks is how much she adored my sister and me. How, though she had a million interests, we were really her life. She gave us a lot of love, but she also raised us to be strong and independent.  And on top of all this, she was also a lot of fun.  She loved laughing and telling jokes, she could talk (and talk) to anyone, and she was a great hostess.