Millburn-Short Hills Magazine Spring 2020 | Page 11

ed a video of his mother to watch.
“I asked him if it would be weird or
traumatic and he said it would be the
complete opposite,” Glass says.
She says her friend’s children were
curious about their grandmother,
but all he had to show them was
30-seconds of his bar mitzvah, and
he would have given anything to have
a video like the ones Glass creates
now.
SHE ALREADY HAD FILM-MAKING
EXPERIENCE. Prior to dedicating her
life to Memories Live, Glass spent
several years as an art therapist in a
nursing home, and had created small
films from events that occurred with
her family. She had previously dab-
bled in film-making while in college.
“I thought, ‘Let me take these
skills and mush them together and
see if I can create something to help
people create memories of themselves
and a lasting piece of memorabilia,’”
she says.
GLASSER GAVE HERSELF A DEADLINE
FOR HER PROJECT TO SUCCEED.
She gave herself a year to determine
whether or not her venture would be
a failure or a success. If she failed,
she would go back to doing art ther-
apy at the nursing home. Glass says
she began reaching out to nursing
homes, hospice care, lawyers’ offices,
cancer centers and hospitals and
making presentations throughout the
New Jersey and New York area.
That first year, 12 people created
videos with her. Now, Glass films
between 25 to 30 people per year. A
majority of these people have cancer,
and their average age is only 55.
HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS USU-
ALLY REACH OUT TO HER. Typically,
social workers in hospitals, hospice
care, nursing homes and cancer cen-
ters reach out to her directly. Glass
emails them a list of questions and
“I THOUGHT, ‘LET ME TAKE THESE SKILLS AND MUSH
THEM TOGETHER AND SEE IF I COULD CREATE
SOMETHING TO HELP PEOPLE CREATE MEMORIES OF
THEMSELVES AND A LASTING PIECE OF MEMORABILIA.’”
topics and encourages them to speak
about their lives and experiences.
She then makes an appointment
with her clients, schedules dates and
times and comes to film them in
their homes or hospital beds, which
takes between one and one and a half
hours. “There’s no messing up or
making mistakes because you know
your life best,” she says.
After Glass finishes filming, the
interviewees provide her with photos
for her to incorporate as slideshows
in the films. The films, which are
around 45 minutes long, are given
back to the clients on USB drives.
THE CLIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES
EXPRESS THEIR APPRECIATION
TO HER. Many of her subjects find
the experience to be cathartic, and
that they feel a sense of peace and
calm, Glass says. She says many
feel that it’s easier to open up to her
because she is a stranger. She’s had
people share recipes, read bedtime
stories to their children and play
music on-camera. She never asks
about the person’s illness.
“Family members love having [the
video],” Glass says. “Some families
say they watch it every year on their
loved one’s birthday or on a holiday.”
It allows families to continue see-
ing their loved ones and remembering
their voices long after they have died,
she says.
SHE IS SENSITIVE TO USING THE
RIGHT WORDS. Glass never uses the
phrase “terminal illness,” and says
she learned very quickly to eliminate
it from her presentations and
brochures. Many consider the term
to be too harsh, and suggest using
the terms “end-stage illness” or
“life-limiting illness.”
“When I created my first brochure,
I had it in there, and the first time I
presented they said to redo it,” Glass
says. “It’s too harsh of a word. Most
medical professionals don’t say it.”
MEMORIES LIVE HAS BEEN, AND
REMAINS, FREE OF CHARGE. One of
Glass’s proudest accomplishments
has been to provide this service
without any cost to the people being
filmed. She says she understands that
they have stacks of both medical and
regular bills and doesn’t want them
to have to worry about another cost.
“Ten years later, I’ve still been able to
do it the same way,” Glass says.
Every year, Glass hosts a fund-
raiser to help pay for the costs of
creating the videos, and she accepts
donations on her website.
SHE IS NOW SERVING CLIENTS WHO
LIVE FURTHER AWAY. Glass only trav-
els to homes within the tri-state area,
noting that many people will cancel
the day of the interview because they
don’t feel well, and this makes it
difficult to travel far.
But recently, she has been able to
film clients outside the area by hav-
ing other people record them on their
smartphones while she coaches them
over the phone. In the last year, she
was able to interview three women
in Texas, a woman in Michigan and
a man in Pittsburgh. ■
MILLBURN & SHORT HILLS MAGAZINE SPRING 2020
9