Sometimes, there are simply wondrous moments at the Mansion, I walked into one today. Joan is one of the dearest Mansion residents, and also one of the most creative. She has severe memory issues, but her creativity is powerful and present.

She paints beautifully – I have one of her paintings on my wall – and tells the most wonderful stories and writes some lovely poems. Joan has had a hard life – she lost a daughter years ago.

Her sweetness is undiminished.

Whenever I see her, she gives me the warmest hug and usually a kiss on my cheek. I love Joan, sometimes she sees Red and sometimes not. Today, she did. “He is such a gentleman,” she told me, smiling proudly.

Sometimes, she drifts off into her own world. Today, I came up to her as she was standing at a Mansion window looking out at the bitter cold and snow-covered ground. I asked her what she was seeking and she pointed out through the window and to the sky.

“It’s spring,” she said, speaking softly. “I see the birds up in those trees, and the flowers across the drive, and the wind is warm and feels good,” she said. “I told them Spring was coming, but…you know, you know.”

What?,I asked. “You can hear them singing now, just before dark…” She paused to trace something in the window.

I realized at that moment that Joan can summon the Spring if she wishes, and smell the flowers and feel the warm and sunny breeze on her cheeks.

“You remind me of a flower,” I said, and she does. “My, my…” she said, smiling.

There are some hard moments at the Mansion, the are some magical ones. I love to talk to Joan, I am learning how to to it.

Joan is a poet, I think her mind is sometimes a poem, and I thanked her for showing me the Spring. “Oh, it’s all right, ” she said, “it’s really okay.” I know it is, I said. Thanks.

Joan cannot respond to most of her mail, but she does like to see them and have them read to her. You can write her at the Mansion, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.