Jay Paterno's Eulogy on this afternoon
I used to think of a eulogy as a short, monotone and grave statement that is read by a person who was very close to the person who passed away. However, today, I realized that it could be a long, sentimental, and powerful speech.
Jay Paterno delivered his Eulogy on this afternoon. He is the second oldest child and the first son of his family. He is probably one of the most qualified men who know Joe Paterno personally. So, as I expected from him, he gave a speech with lots of anecdotes of Joe Paterno; moreover, he tried to copy Joe’s voice during the speech, and I think this rhetoric is meant to deliver Jay’s feeling how much he misses his dad.
Then, Jay supported Joe Paterno’s reputation by mentioning all the contributions that Joe has made at Penn State. Jay described how much Joe loved Penn State not as a job but felt it as a part of his life; during the speech, Jay mentioned that Joe Paterno was always speaking with we and us, not with I and me. This part came to me with a powerful message in which I could see Joe’s affection towards Penn State.
At the end, Jay finished with the last words he spoken to his dad and I thought it was the strongest part of the eulogy. I almost cried and Jay almost did on the podium. So here is the quote of Jay:
“Dad, you won. You’ve did all you could do. You’ve done enough. We all love you. You won. You can go home now.”
In that short message, somehow, I could feel how much Joe would have hurt, and worried about the recent tragedy that happened to him; moreover, how much would Joe’s family have hurt by watching him fighting through the situation and his own physical obstacle.
Personally, Jay’s eulogy encouraged me to be a good son. I’m not really close to my dad. I didn’t have much time with him as much I should’ve done. I want to be a proud witness of my dad’s life and tell people how great my dad was. Then, when I grow up, I want to be a dad who could deserve his son’s admiration, and respect.
Overall, Jay’s use of rhetoric in his eulogy was sentimental, strong, and it brought a huge impact in my life. I learned that rhetoric could cause unintended impact on people by found the importance of family from Jay's eulogy.
And here is the link for the full version of Jay's eulogy:
I really connected to what you wrote. I too, found Jay Paterno's speech to be really powerful and like you noted, his rhetoric was produced in a manner that could persuade an entire room.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed that you picked a topic so relevant to the Penn State community and specifically this week. I also watched the memorial service and found that those last words spoken by Jay Paterno were the most powerful as well. I was so appreciative that Jay allowed us into his family as much as Joe did so much that he shared his last words spoken which is a very personal thing. I definitely agree that the speech was very much relatable and I am happy that you were able to find such a perosnal connection into your own life.
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