Farewell speeches can simplify a relationship that was valuable partly because it was complicated.

Speeches need a shape, and shapes cost detail. To say something in three minutes you have to choose one version of a person, usually the warmest and least contradictory one, and the friction that made the relationship interesting gets left out. What is said is true and it is not the whole thing.

Giving one of these, keep one specific and slightly awkward detail in it. The argument you had, the habit that drove you mad and that you will miss. And if you receive a speech about yourself, take it as an affectionate abbreviation rather than a description.