I gave the 'Tribute' at my grandmother's funeral yesterday.
The final version was the seventh draft. Poor Herself listened to it all the way through 12 times, even when I had only changed the odd word or shifted a paragraph about. She helped make it better. She always makes things better.
When it came to the service, I was nervous. Definitely. But I had stuck the speech onto card so that if my hands wobbled it wouldn't be too obvious. I made sure I had a mint to suck beforehand so that I didn't get drymouth. I ignored the Priest's efforts to get me to blub. (Not just me, obviously, the whole congregation.)
And when it came time, it went off without a hitch. Practice had made if not perfect then as near as dammit. I got to the end, sat back down and had another mint. Then I held my Auntie's hand and sang The Lord's My Shepherd without blubbing and felt very much that no matter what people thought of the speech, I knew that I had given it my very best effort. And that was all she ever wanted us to do.
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you are very brave and clever. i can see why you were the eulogiser of choice. i hope you don't have to practice this particular skill too often though! you will, however, have to practice for when we are travelling round the country doing book readings.....
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