Red and I spent an emotional few hours at the Mansion Assisted Care Facility in my hometown of Cambridge today. The holidays are here, and a singer was performing an afternoon concert of Christmas songs in the beautiful big room of the Mansion downstairs. Many of Red’s friends were there, and Peggy was excited to see him, they are great friends.

The staff is working extra hard to keep everyone’s spirits high, I am always touched and inspired by the warmth and sensitivity the staff shows to the residents, the works is challenging and often unappreciated.

There is, at the mansion these days, a keen sense of loss and longing – for family, for homes left behind, dogs and cats given away or lost, and for the loss of connection to the life and work and rhythms of the outside world. We keep these good people alive, but we then put them out of sight and mind and take from them almost everything they love and value.

Red and other animals seem to bring people back to that time of connection and community, I’m not sure I understand it but I see it very clearly. The staff is heroic about paying attention to the residents and honoring the holidays – trees and lights are everywhere – but there is no doubt about the sense of loss.

Your gifts and letters have made a truly astounding impact on the Mansion. There are bags of yarn, quilts, teddy bears, cars, caftans, quilts, warmers, comforters from Mississippi, Iowa, California, England, Oregon, Kansas, North Dakota, Illinois. There may be divisions in the country, but there are good people every where who went to great trouble to write to these people and lift them up.

You cannot really know what a difference you have made until you see it, everyone tells me about the letters they receive, Peggy reads everyone almost every day. In this time, Red and I will pick up our visits, he sheds light and joy wherever he goes and the residents all day he brings them back to their best times and good feelings.

I’ve been invited to the Christmas Party on December 15, can’t wait to go.

You’ve done plenty, but if you wish to contact these people, it would be much appreciated, especially now. You can write to Peggy or the Residents, c/o the Mansion, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.