I admit I missed the Mansion staff and residents, I thought of them every day while we were in New Mexico, and called several times to see how everyone was doing. No big changes, I was told. I’m going there tomorrow with some gifts I picked up in New Mexico.

I was touched and a bit surprised at how happy I was to see the office staff and some of the residents, I only had a few minutes. I learned that Brittany (on the far right), a loving and dedicated aide at the Mansion lost her dog the day before yesterday, and she was a wreck about it.

At the Mansion, the heart sings.

I rushed over there to wish her well and tell her I was sorry, and I gave her a copy of my book, “Going Home: Finding Peace When Pets Die.” I don’t know if she’ll need it, but I thought she ought to have it on hand. Grieving is an intensely individual and personal experience, everyone does it in their own way.

Animal grieving is a serious subject for me, and I researched it extensively when I wrote “Going Home.” Brittany works in a place where she often has to confront illness and death, and she doesn’t really need my help to deal with it, I’m sure. People who don’t know how to handle grief don’t last too long at the Mansion.

i could see rushing over there that the Mansion means a lot to me, and I think I mean something to them. I wanted to check on Connie and Art (he is getting sweeter, they tell me) and Bill and Sylvie and Jean and Alice, my girlfriends.

In the hallway I met Sylvie’s sister and she asked if I was the famous Jon Katz, and I said no, I was the handsome one. We both laughed.

I asked her if I could do anything for Sylvie, and she said I could keep urging her to tell her stories, and I will surely do that. I have heard for months how kind and attentive Brittany is to the residents, and I can see how much she cares about them.  Brittany and Red have a thing going.

I thought it might be helpful to her if some of you would write her about the death of her dog, perhaps offer some comfort and good words. I have the feeling it would help out right now, she is hurting. And a lot of you have been through this, you know how it feels.

I got something from New Mexico for her that I think she might like.

You can write her c/o Brittany, The Mansion, 11 S Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

A perfect way, I think, to crank up the wonderful engine that is the Army of Good. We are back.