Maria and Red and I went over to the Mansion to wish the residents a Happy New Year’s Eve.

Thanks to Kenna Ogg, an artist and quilter from Boise, Idaho, and reader of our blogs, we had beautiful Poinsetta photo notecards to give to reach resident wishing them Happy New Year.

We saw four or five residents, we spent some time with Bill O. Bill is struggling to get  more mobile, he hopes to visit our farm in the Spring. He is still adjusting to his new life at the Mansion.  He lost his wife of more than 60 years,  Louella, last year, and had to send his dog Duke to a shelter when he came into the Mansion. He has not been feeling well, “I’m working through it,” he said, “I have to get well.”

The staff distributed Kenna’s beautiful cards this afternoon, every resident got one, Kenna made enough. Bill shows us the more than 70 cards and letters he has received from readers of the blog in the past few weeks They are in a plastic bag he keeps by his chair. He says he is reading them as quickly as he can, he says he will read every one of them, they are, he says, from everywhere.

“When in my life?,” he asked, “would someone like me get so many letters from people from everywhere.” I had no answer for him. We spent a long time listening to Bill tell stories about his life as a cook and family man. Sometimes, my work is just about active listening, like Red.

When people tell their stories, Red appears transfixed, as if he is hanging on every word.

I am thinking that the next meaning project for the Mansion residents might be Valentine’s Day, a time when they will be reminded of love, present and lost, and will need some love. I think it will be a good thing for people who wish to help them to focus on. Up here, Valentine’s Day can be heard, it comes right in the middle of February, when the winter here is usually at it’s most fierce.

I imagine that is a time when many of the residents will be thinking of love, as Bill does when he thinks of his beloved Louella. He said he never imagined outliving her.

I ran into the town postman today and he asked me what was going on at the Mansion, he said he had never  brought so many letters and packages there. I told him, and he whistled, he said everyone there was so happy. Bill and the other residents love to be known and loved, and they are feeling your love, profoundly. So is the staff there.

If you care to think about Valentine’s Day and the Mansion residents, you can write them c/o The Mansion, 11 S. Union Street, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

The first names of the residents who wish to receive messages and mail are Jean, Mary, Sylvie, Diane, Alice, Jean, Madeline, Joan, Allan, Carl, John K., Aileen, Christie, Helen, Connie, Alanna, Barbara, Peggie, Bill O., Dennis, John R., Bruce, John.

I wish the residents of the Mansion the happiest of New Year’s, and the same to all of you reading this