This Post Is Not About Death (Repost)

...It is about Appreciation.

The etymology of the word eulogy is:
mid-15c., from Gk. eulogia "praise,"
from eu- "well" + -logia "speaking,"
from logos "discourse, word," from legein "speak."
Eu legein meant "speak well of."
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At a recent get-together, I found myself watching her out of the corner of my eye.
She was smiling, carrying on as if people had no knowledge of her ominous prognosis of Stage IV Breast Cancer.
She works as a physician and continues with her life as a wife, mother to two, sister and a friend to many.

I had never been really close to her, but we've been acquainted for a long time.
In the 12+ years that we had gone to school together, she had always been nice to me.
Smart (the type that regularly got exempted from final exams) and talented but never arrogant. A kind and a very decent person.
Always a leader, but not a power tripper.
That night, I was in awe of how upbeat she was despite all that she was going through.

As the evening wrapped up, I impulsively told her what I thought of her.
I know she knew why I told her this,
because she smiled, hugged me and said: "I'm fighting this--but thank you."

When did the word eulogy evolve to mean: "To speak well of someone only upon death?"
Why wait?