♪♫Knowing it will be worth while, I will go the extra mile♫♪

Lyrics from the song The Extra Mile recorded by Laura Pausini.

In October of last year I wrote a post Around the Corner...  I didn't mention in the post, but one of the things I had been doing with that client before she passed was working on a Legacy project. When she started to decline, I just decided I wanted to have a record of her musical passion and her excellent quality of life when in the presence of Music Therapy; something her family could have after she was gone. So, without really knowing what I was doing, I grabbed an intern and the video camera and did some recording. The facility has a digital video camera, and I have a mac that came with video editing software, so I figured, how hard can it be to make a basic movie.  I wanted it to look like a finished copy, with scenes and titles and transitions. But, when I went to plug in the video camera, it was not compatible with the version of iMovie on my computer. Well, I was pretty intent on doing this project and making it look like a polished copy, so I looked into upgrading the program. Then I found out that to upgrade that one program I would in fact have to completely upgrade my operating system from 10.4 (I know, I hadn't ever done an upgrade. whoops) to at least 10.6 Snow Leopard version. (This is still two OS behind I believe Lion is the newest.) So, I special ordered an installation disc for the new OS. That came and I spent an afternoon upgrading my computer. Then I had to download the APP store onto my computer, and download the new versions of iMovie and iDVD.  I also bought CD labels from Target and made a nice CD label sticker. The resident died before I finished the video with all the set-backs I had. I was able to get in touch with her family and give them copies of the finished product (after a few more issues with burning the discs). The finished product was something of which I was very proud. The family was happy to receive it. The resident's daughter sent me a card saying the whole family was going to watch the video together on Thanksgiving. All in all the project cost me a decent chunk of my own money and MANY unpaid hours working on it, often at 3 or 4 in the morning. It was not something I had to do. It was not something the family asked for from me. I saw an opportunity and I went for it, and despite the extra personal cost and the time and the frustration and inconvenience, it was completely worth while.

I have another resident and he is a joy. He loves to sing his favorite songs and a smile spreads across his face and he makes the comment that the music "makes the old ticker go." When he sings, the other staff even stop to watch and listen because he is so animated and when he finishes a song and has done all the words, he smiles so much and is so proud of himself he sometimes is moved to tears of joy. It is beautiful to be a part of that. He had family visit from out of town last summer and I met them coincidentally on the elevator coming back to the floor from my dinner break one evening. I told them about his singing and they said they couldn't believe it. So, I grabbed my guitar and spend a half hour helping them connect with their uncle through his favorite songs. Then I explained the concept of a Legacy video project. They were very interested in having something like that to hold onto to remember him when he is eventually gone from this earth. I said I would make him my next project. Then I just had no extra time at work. I still intended to do it at some point but it wasn't a priority. He wasn't declining and he was singing as well as ever. But, then I got a new job. I knew I needed to do this Legacy video before I left my position. I had promised the family.

When I was working on memorial day I got the resident and the video camera and did some recordings of his favorite songs. Transferring them to the computer was easier now that my programs were the correct versions. I even figured out a few extra touches to make this finished product better than the first one. The whole thing took much less time now that I know what I'm doing. I finished the video and went to transfer it from iMovie to iDVD so I could burn it, and I got a warning message saying that my startup disk was almost full. FYI that is NOT a good thing. The start-up disk for the non-tech-savvy people is the hard drive apparently. Well, it still said it was processing the video and would be done transferring in 3 hours. 2 hours and 45 minutes later it gave an error message saying the video was too long and there was not enough space to transfer it. I went through my files, I deleted unnecessary ones, but that didn't really work. Then, I got a phone call at work. The resident's niece was visiting again from out of town. She was hoping to be able to visit during music time. That was on Tuesday. Well, that timing was just way too convenient. I was so close to being done with this video and could give it to her while she was in town and save myself cost of shipping it.  At this point, I decided I absolutely had to do this. I ordered myself an external hard drive and had it rush delivered so I'd get it by Thursday. (I got a pretty good deal, but still, external hard drives are expensive.) That would give me time to clear some space and transfer and burn the disc to give to her before the weekend. Except that UPS required a signature and delivered it while I was at work, so they didn't leave it. I talked with the family and they gave me their phone number and contact information for where they were staying and said to just let them know if I had a chance to get the video finished before they left. Friday I left a very strongly worded note for UPS on my door indicating the importance of them leaving the package even if I wasn't there to sign in person, and signed the note indicating I accept full liability if anything happens to the package. Luckily they left it for me. I finished the DVD and it turned out so nice. I added chapter markers and music during the menus and credits. I added some nice photos of him.

I called and left a message for his family saying I had a DVD for them. I made a special trip in to work today (Sunday) to meet his niece so I could give it to her. She wanted to watch it with me and her uncle. I put it on the widescreen TV in the dining room and a few other residents joined us. I was out with my mom when the family called and asked if I could bring it, so my mom was there, too. The resident was so excited to see himself on the television singing his favorite songs. He started singing along with the video. His niece sat next to him and sang with him. She was so touched, and they had such a beautiful connection with each other for the 20 minutes he sang with me on the television. She cried; so did he. My mom got to see one of the more awesome sides of my career. The last couple weeks have been tough at work. Staff are rude and making nasty comments to me or ignoring me completely since they found out I'm leaving. But, none of that mattered in those moments watching this family find common ground in something so simple. These Legacy videos that have had so much overhead costs and have taken so much personal time and inconvenience, just to give them away for free... they aren't a job requirement, they aren't even an expectation. They were simply something I got the idea to do one day, and decided if I was going to make something like that, then I was going to go the extra mile and make it the best product I could. I wasn't certain it would be worth it in the end; I didn't know what the reaction to them would be. Today, I got to experience the reaction first-hand. While everyone else was watching the television I was watching the beauty in front of me, a true connection between this resident and his niece. Something she knows she can always treasure with him each time she sees that video. I wish I could explain it better... the look on their faces... the honor of playing a part in that. I guess all I can say is that sometimes you have to be willing to go the extra mile because the final destination is so incredibly worth it.