The sun streamed into the room of 94-year-old Mary “Lucille” Snider at Pine Knoll Nursing Home as she prepared to recount some of the highlights of her life.

Dressed in matching green slacks and sweater, her hair freshly done, she was going before the camera for a special video that her family will have years after she is gone.

Filming on this particular day was State of the Heart Hospice volunteer Gail Morris.

“Okay, we’re ready,” Morris explained to Lucille, who is a hospice patient. “We’ll start with an introduction of who you are, then you can begin to talk about your life.”

Starting slowly at first, prompted with questions from Morris, Lucille told of where she was born and how her family had gone through difficult times during the Depression.

She talked of her family of four children, and the family’s constant moves so that work could be obtained. She returned frequently to the Great Depression.

“It was terrible,” she said, her eyes casting down as if to reflect on those days. “People just don’t realize how hard the Depression was on all of us.”

State of the Heart Hospice, with offices in Greenville, has been doing the videos for the past three years and then presenting them to the patient’s family.

Morris has done between 25 and 30 videos for hospice patients since she became a volunteer in 2005.

“In these videos they think of happier times and of better days,” she said. “At times, their eyes shine like diamonds.”

The videos run from 45 minutes to an hour. Morris will prompt the patient with some questions. Sometimes, she said, the patients start out hesitantly, and then talk more openly, sharing stories of their families, their jobs and their travels.

“There are two things I like to ask patients,” Morris explains. “The most important thing they have learned in their life, and what advice do they have to people to help them in the future.”

The idea behind the project is to record the patient’s memories for their families to view periodically and to learn of their family history, Pauline Faller, hospice volunteer coordinator, said.

Snider’s granddaughter, Betsy Miller, said, “This is a good idea to keep so many memories. It will be a nice remembrance for our family.”

Morris has done some unusual videos and photographs.

“There was a wonderful patient who was an expert in wood carving,” she said. “We did a photo album of all of his wood carvings that I had photographed. This created a wonderful keepsake for his family.”

In another instance, when a young mother was a patient, the family would gather for a video session or still photos.

“She was from the Philippines,” Morris recalled. “My husband found some music from the Philippines and it was the music played in the background for the video.

“The patient’s oldest daughter had just turned 4 years old when her mother died. Now, all of the children will have a permanent remembrance of their mother.”

Today, in a sunny room at Pine Knoll in Indiana listening to Lucille Snider reminisce about her 94 years on this Earth, Morris thought about what her work with State of the Heart Hospice means to others.

“When I think of what this means to our patients and their families, I am so honored to be able to bring my talent and help hospice do this,” she said.

State of the Heart always has a need for volunteers. Following a brief orientation, volunteers can choose what they prefer doing and how many hours they want to volunteer.

For more information about volunteering or any of the services provided by State of the Heart, call (800) 417-7535 or visit the Web site at www.stateoftheheartcare.org