EulogyApp

How to write a eulogy for your grandmother

For the woman whose work mostly went unrecorded.

The short answer

How long:
A eulogy for your grandmother usually runs three to five minutes spoken, which is about 500 to 800 words.
Structure:
Open by saying who you were to them, carry the middle with two specific stories, and close on one line you can say and then stop.
The one thing:
Specific beats comprehensive. One story told properly does more than a list of virtues, every time.
If you cannot finish it:
Asking someone else to read it for you is common and entirely acceptable. Tell the funeral director beforehand.

Start with your grandmother

Free to start. No account needed. Your draft saves as you type.

What makes this one hard

Much of what a grandmother did was invisible by design - the meals, the remembering of birthdays, the holding together. Naming that work specifically, rather than calling her selfless, is what makes the eulogy land.

Questions worth answering first

Answer these on paper, badly, before you try to write anything that sounds like a eulogy.

  • What did she make, and did anyone ever write the recipe down?
  • What did she notice about people that nobody else did?
  • What did she keep - letters, tins, photographs - and why?
  • What did she do for someone that they only found out about later?

The shape that works

  1. Gather specifics, not adjectives. Write down concrete details before you write a single sentence of the eulogy. One real moment is worth a paragraph of praise.
  2. Choose a tone and a length. Decide how it should sound and how long you can speak for. Four to six minutes, around 500 to 800 words, suits most services.
  3. Shape it into three parts. An opening that says who you are to them, a middle carrying the stories, and a closing line you can say out loud and then stop.
  4. Read it aloud and cut. Read it standing up. Anything you stumble over, cut. Print it in large type, or use a reader that scrolls at your pace.

Questions people ask

Everything I write sounds like a greeting card. How do I fix it?

Replace every adjective with a fact. Not "she was generous" but "she paid for my brother's driving lessons and never once mentioned it". The adjective is your conclusion; the fact lets the room reach it themselves.

Can I read something she wrote?

Yes, and it will often be the strongest thirty seconds of the eulogy. Introduce it briefly, read it slowly, and do not explain it afterwards.