Sylvie was the daughter of American diplomats, she spent most of her childhood in post war Austria and Germany. I have a special connection with Sylvie, she invited me to a game night and tea party at the Mansion this evening, Maria and I ended up being team leaders in a kind of pantomime word game.

Maria’s team won, but just barely.

Sylvie told me the story of her lost dog Hank, who vanished in the mountain caves of Austria. Her memory of Hank is fresh. Sylvie is a stoic, she does not ever complain or show much emotion, but she has wonderful stories to tell. Of her two loves, lost to breakdowns and suicide.Of her moves and strokes. Of her deep religious faith.

She also told me that she loves receiving letters from the Army of Good. She said some of the letters are returned because she gets the addresses and zip codes wrong, and then she can’t find the original addresses, so she reads the lettlers as prayers.

I volunteered to help her address her letters so she can get the mailing addresses right, she values these friendships very much and worries that people will think she doesn’t care about the letters. “These are my friends,” she said.

We had the nicest time at the tea party, and Sylvie was pleased that we had come. So were we. We had fun playing the word games – Maria and I are both insanely competitive, we made a lot of noise.

Then we all had tea, scones and hot chocolate. I had Jessica, a Mansion staffer on my team, and she was exceptional at the pantomime.

Sylvie thanked us for coming, and we thanked her for inviting us. Red had his had in her lap, and I asked her if she ever had a dog and she told me about Hank. She misses him still.

Sylvie cherishes your letters and carries them around the Mansion in a special briefcase. She says it takes her a day-and-a-half to write a letter in response, and many of them come back due to the wrong addresses.

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