I need help with 2 pages of a eulogy about my 81-year-old mother who passed away recently. Here are some facts: She’s had 5 children & 10...

Perhaps the best thing to do for the eulogy is to express love, happiness, and warmth: the love you have, and especially, the love given in so many ways by your mother. Provide anecdotes from the past; keep the hearts light and make your dear mother's presence be felt.

Because people are mourning, it is important to celebrate the life of the mother, the grandmother, the comforter, the listener, the cook, the lover of your...

Perhaps the best thing to do for the eulogy is to express love, happiness, and warmth: the love you have, and especially, the love given in so many ways by your mother. Provide anecdotes from the past; keep the hearts light and make your dear mother's presence be felt.

Because people are mourning, it is important to celebrate the life of the mother, the grandmother, the comforter, the listener, the cook, the lover of your grandfather. Keep the mood cheerful, celebratory.

Tell your listeners something about this dear parent that they do not know. Read something she wrote, or read something that she read or quoted and tell why she loved it. Give away a few secrets about her that will make people cherish her memory, and, perhaps, chuckle a little. Let her be there with all of you. Always use some degree of humor.

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Here's an opener:

There is an Irish proverb: A man's best friend has been and always will be his mother.

As the oldest, you can allude to some things that relate to this proverb. Also, you can take this proverb and say something like "Yes, it's true; a man's best friend is his mother EXCEPT _____and then relate some humorous anecdote in which one of your siblings may have obtained extra favor, or "betrayed" you with a secret or something that is typical of siblings. And you got in trouble! (Bring a smile to people)

Many times a funeral is the occasion at which a person sees relatives that he/she has not seen for years. So stress the reunion of the family.

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Here is a part of a poem that is always cherished by those who hear it; it is a piece that was read at a funeral service:

Death is nothing at all. 
It does not count. 
I have only slipped away into the next room. 
Nothing has happened. 

Everything remains exactly as it was. 
I am I, and you are you, 
and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged. 
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still. 

(You can read the entire poem at the source listed below:)

Source: http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/death-is-nothing-at-all-by-henry-scott-holland

Or write your own poem with your siblings!

Condolences to you; your mother must have been a distinctly clever and dear, dear woman. And to be so loved—why, it is everything—just everything!