Joan went to a rehabilitation center today, she was alert and looked very strong to me. We  were very glad to see each other.

It took me awhile to track Joan down, I went to the hospital in Glens Falls, N.Y., with Red and there was no listing for her in the directory, she had just been transferred. We got to the Glens Falls Rehab Center just after she did.

My phone map found the rehab center and we found Joan, looking good but a little bit lost. She doesn’t know my name or Red’s name, but she recognized us, and threw her arm around me and give me a strong hug and kiss.

The Glens Falls Center (a/k/a The Stanton Rehab Center) was impressive to me, it was bright, clean, cheerful and the staff were attentive, thorough and professional.

Red was a huge hit, a rock star, he was mobbed by the staff.

By now, I had learned that Joan  had fallen had fallen – I got permission from Joan, the Mansion and her family to report this – and had broken her hip. She was transferred out of the hospital in just a couple of days and had already been on her feet and taken a walk. If she can walk by herself, she can return to the Mansion.

Joan was brave, but lost.

She was confused about where she was and where everyone she knew was, and what had happened to her, but she was very happy to see Red and me. She said she wanted to send a message, so I did a video. It was vintage Joan, loving and circular.

I don’t think she knows what happened to her, but she said she wanted to give a message to the people who loved her – there are many. You can’t just stop on a corner, she said, and somehow, it made sense. Joanie and can always communicate.

Joan loves being photographed, she loves attention. I know her eyesight is failing, but she loves to see any photo of her, as best she can.

At first, it was hard to see Joan in the Rehab Center, she is such a free spirit. She is just beginning to understand that she can’t get up and walk yet without help.

Joan is very active and easily bored, she said she wants to get letters, so here is her address. She is Joan,  in the Glens Falls Center, 7 South,  152 Upper Sherman Avenue, Queensbury, N.Y., 12804.

Joan loves to get mail, but is not able to reply to the letters she gets.

I am going to visit her as often as I can, I’ll bring some of the memory books we have been working on together and today, I played music on my Iphone and we sat together and listened to Fleetwood Mac and the Beatles together, they are two of her favorites.

It was a sweet and meaningful time for me, we were both quiet and closed our eyes. Joan loves any kind of music. And she loves to dance.

Joan is always fun, and she was fun today, she is quick to laugh and smile at the world, even when it is no fun. It is always possible to cheer Joan up. “Oh well,” she said to me at one point, out of nowhere, “you just have to learn to smile.”

Tonight, I ordered some flowers and a stuffed Teddy Bear, her room is very clean and bright, but could use some color. She’ll get them tomorrow. Please don’t try to call Joan there, thanks.

Joan has a great spirit. For all of her memory struggles, I have never found it difficult to talk to her. She and I have done a lot of reading together, special books to restore memory,  and the stories of her life often bubble up in unexpected ways.

Memory is a fascinating thing to me, and Joan has taught me a lot about pulling up the stories of people’s lives, even when it seems they can’t.

Joan’s physical therapist came in to meet her, and Joan gave her a great big hug also. She is a great border colllie lover, she adored Red.

Red was stellar, I think we cheered Joan up, we sang some Beatles songs together – she has no trouble remembering them and she asked if we could dance. We laughed a lot.

Last week, I was asked by a Mansion aide if I could get some new shoes for Joan for the Fall, her summer shoes were too light for the winter. She went to the hospital before I could give them to her, so I brought them to the rehab center today.

Joan said at one point that she wanted to take a walk.

The nurse and I both said no, quite forcefully. Joan is strong and determined, I believe she will be up and walking soon and back home at the Mansion in a couple of weeks. But I am not a doctor, and I don’t really know.

I called the Mansion and gave them an update, they were thrilled to hear that she was doing well.

The Mansion staff has won my heart in the way they have loved Joan and watched over her. Their work is not easy, they do it so well.

Thanks for caring about Joan, her spirit is strong and  unbreakable, her heart is great, she never lets life defeat or discourage her.