An Example Eulogy for a Close Friend

Sometimes the easiest way to start is to read one that works. Here is a short example eulogy for a friend, followed by notes on why it lands.

The eulogy

There was a bench outside the old coffee shop on Fifth, and for about nine years, that bench was ours. Dana always got there first. She'd have two cups already, mine going cold because she could never wait to start talking.

I'm Sam, and Dana was my best friend — the kind you don't so much choose as recognize.

She had this way of making you feel like the most interesting person in any room, mostly by asking one more question than anyone else would. She remembered everything. Your sister's surgery. The name of the dog you had in third grade. She kept a birthday list in the back of a notebook and never, not once, missed one of mine.

The thing I'll miss most is the two cups on the bench. One of them was always for someone else.

Dana, thank you for the questions, and the birthdays, and the coffee going cold. I'll get there first from now on.

Why it works

It starts in a place

The bench, Fifth Street, the cold coffee — we're in a scene before we know who died.

One quality, one proof

"She made you feel interesting" is shown through a habit: one more question, a birthday list.

The ending closes the circle

The last line returns to the first image and turns it into a promise. That callback is what makes a room go quiet.