A stranger hired me to make his memorial video. Spending his final 3 weeks with him changed my life.

The author interviewed his client at an assisted living facility.

Courtesy of the author

It started with a Facebook ad in late April.Eighty-five-year-old Larry Aaronson responded on the first day. When I called, he said immediately that he was in the hospital, that he had "about a year to live", and that he wanted me to produce a video for his memorial service.My business, Heritage Stories, helps older people capture their legacies. I hadn't exactly planned on producing end-of-life videos. I also wasn't intimidated by the gravity of the ask.He was a high school teacherIn our initial conversation, Larry described what he called "a life of serendipity", sharing a stream of fantastical stories. The one he would tell repeatedly was about being a progressive high school teacher in Cambridge, MA, who taught many prominent figures: local politicians, celebrities including Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, and New York Knicks legend, Patrick Ewing. I left the call with the sense I was part of some elaborate Facebook scam. A Google search proved everything was true.The first time I went to see Larry, he was in a rehab facility. A couple arrived during my visit. I asked how they knew him. The man told me Larry was his high school history teacher."You keep in touch with your high school history teacher?" I asked. He replied, "You don't not keep in touch with Larry. He's like family." That's when I knew I had met someone special.I interviewed him while in hospiceLarry's life of serendipity is actually what led him to teaching. After receiving two master's degrees, he sought a final deferment from the Vietnam draft. His mother told him her coworker's husband had opened a school for dropouts. He got the job and the deferment that came with it. He went on to have a career at the cutting edge of education, shaping the field with an influence that far exceeded the walls of the alternative high schools in which he taught.