November is the month I chose to honor and recognize the amazing work of the Mansion aides, whose love and hard work have made the lives of the residents so much better.

As a society, America undervalues the health care workers, the lives of so many elderly citizens are in their hands. I’ve been working with the Mansion aides for a couple of years now, and I find them almost unfailingly loving,  hard-working and upbeat.

They do the work nobody else in America wants to do, and they do it with affection and empathy. I have been so touched by how they are such fierce advocates for the residents and their needs.

Once or twice every week, a Mansion aide comes up to me and tells me that a resident’s underwear is disintegrating, or their shoes have holes, or they have no warm pajamas for the winter.

Just this week, the aides came to me and asked me to get hold of a bathrobe, tights so a resident could go visit her family at Christmas, socks for a man whose socks were full of holes, compression socks for three women with diabetes.

The aides know the residents better than anyone, they help them dress, go to the bathroom, take their medications,  cheer up, or resolve arguments. Sage is one of the newer Mansion aides, but she has the smile and the energy I have come to know so well.

They work very hard to keep the residents comfortable, safe, healthy and happy. They can’t always succeed on every front, but  they make an enormous difference in the lives of people on the edge of life, people who have so often been left behind by the rest of society.

She is working on the night shift, she will soon know what it is every resident needs. Small acts of great kindness would be impossible without the Mansion aides.

I am happy to try to offer some meager recognition for the amazing work they do.

This week, we are honoring the aides by giving them each $50 Amazon Gift Cards, engraved pens, and cookies over the holidays.