I have to brag a little. Over this past weekend (October 23,24, 2010), Suzanne and I were able to deliver two very large Legacy Projects to two very happy clients. The first Project we delivered had been a 4 month long Project, from first interview to delivery of the 175-page book. Our client was terminally ill but he was able to complete the interviews before he passed away. Those interviews ultimately turned into a book that is going to be donated to both the Westport Public Library and the Weston Public Library. His wife came to our home/studio to pick up the books (25 copies) and she cried. You see, it had been her vision, her idea from the beginning to have her husband tell his story while he still had time to do so. The book surpassed her wildest imagination. Suzanne and I worked together to give her the book she had so hoped to have. She loved her husband very much. This book is the greatest gift she could ever receive. His story will live on through many generations in his family and will be told by his friends to their friends and their friends. We came to love them both. This is what the Legacy Project USA is all about – helping people to preserve the stories that need to be told. There is a sense of deep connection when someone can tell their story in their own words.
The second Legacy Project we delivered was to a family in Stamford who had chosen to honor their oldest living relative, a gorgeous 96-year old man who had survived the Holcaust. The Project had taken several months to complete. We had started with the interviews in April. The archiving of the old family photos and the photographing of heirloom family portraits took a bit of time. And then, there was the matter of a birthday party for our client in August. So there was a 4 month wait time right there. But once we completed photographing the family at the 96th birthday party and interviewing all the guests, we started assembling the whole project. It was a labor of love to say the least. When we delivered the product to the family just this past Saturday, again there were tears. We know why. We know why people do this. We know why we love doing what we do. We know why we want to do it for you.