H A R B O R
H O S P I C E
A N D
P A L L I A T I V E
C A R E
Helping Families Remember with
Vinyl Records By Susan Newhof
Mitch Anderson knows his way around a recording studio, and he is marrying those skills with his love of vinyl records to support families through their grief of losing someone close.
“The human voice is a physical presence,” says Mitch,
Warren’s favorite 45 RPM records again, and portions of
president of Think of Me™, a West Michigan business that
her conversation with him on his show a year earlier were
has established an exciting partnership with Harbor
skillfully faded in. There was her unmistakable voice sharing
Hospice. “Capturing a voice on vinyl is a
what she loved about the music and what
representation of our loved one at that
it meant to her. She and Mitch were in the
moment. That is them!”
studio together once again.
The genesis of Think of Me™ goes back
It was an emotional eureka moment
to the day Mitch hosted his mother-in-law
for Mitch. He began thinking of similar
on his radio program. Her on-air name was
ways he could help others through the grief
Mama Warren.
of losing someone they love. From that
“We were playing some of her favorite
inspiration grew the partnership between
45 RPM records from her youth,” Mitch
Think of Me™ and Harbor Hospice that will
remembers. “I would ask her to give us
launch in the next year.
a rundown on one of the songs, why
Here’s how it works: Harbor Hospice
she chose it and what it meant to her.”
patients will be offered the opportunity
Like all his shows, Mitch recorded it.
to talk on a field recorder about anything
The following year, the family’s much-loved “Mama Warren” passed away unexpectedly. “I wanted to have those moments in the studio with her
they choose. “They can read a bedtime story, wish happy birthday, tell a favorite family joke, recall memories, anything they want,” explains Mitch. He
again,” recalls Mitch of the fun they had doing the radio
can take audio from other sources including voice mail and
broadcast together and how much he missed her. So he
VHS tapes, too. Then he will transfer the recording to a
retrieved the recording of the show and used his vacuum
CD and onto a vinyl record. The keepsakes will be given to
tube record lathe, circa 1949, to turn the recording into a
family members and can be played over and over and over.
vinyl record. Then, on a live broadcast, he played Mama
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“That recording becomes an heirloom that can be shared
