Gary Michaels

Finding honesty, compassion and balance when the relationship wasn’t simple.

Whilst it's one request you might never want to receive, when it does, it's both an honour and a daunting challenge: you’ve been asked to deliver a eulogy! Whether it fills you with pride, humility, or trepidation, your task sounds simple: to sum up a unique, complex, and cherished life in just a few minutes. However, the reality isn't so straightforward as the weight of doing justice to their memory, combined with the raw edge of your own grief and the pressure of public speaking, can feel...

No matter who's doing it, writing a eulogy is always a balancing act — between grief and gratitude, memory and meaning, truth and tenderness. But perhaps the most delicate balance of all comes when religion enters the frame. Whether you’re deeply devout, gently spiritual, or firmly secular, religion often plays a role in how we talk about death and legacy. It shapes not only the ceremony in which a eulogy is spoken but also the language, tone and comfort that people seek from it. Photo by...