A big stack of letters came for Sylvie from the Mansion today, she is one of the eight Mansion residents staying at the Danforth Adult Care Center while the damage to the Mansion is being repaired. The Mansion residents have struggled to deal with this frightening disruption in their lives, but Sylvie seems to have handled it more easily than anyone.

Sylvie is eager to get back to the Mansion, yet she is both hopeful and accepting. She was thrilled to see this stack of letters. Sylvie loves getting letters, you can write to her c/o Sylvie, The Mansion, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. She will soon be back and ready to receive them at the Mansion.

Sylvie tries to answer each one, she loses and misplaces more stamps than a crooked postmaster.

I bring stamps to her several times a week, they seem to vanish into one of her many tote bags. Some letters get through, some get lost. Rumors are she has 1,000 stamps hidden away somewhere.

“The lost letters are my prayers,” she tells me. “That’s the way I see it.” That is very Sylvie. She does not complain or despair.

She  reads religious texts much of the day, and when she is done with them, she reads and answers her letter. She tells me “I have many good friends on your blog.” That is good to hear.

Sylvie is  regal and entitled. As I was leaving the Danforth today, she handed me a stack of letters to stamp and mail without comment. ‘”I love you, Jon,” she said, and I told her I loved her back. And I do.

A month ago, Sylvie invited me to come with  her to her weekly Jehovah’s Witness meeting. I enjoyed it very much, I got to see the strength and faith of her community, and its great meaning for  her.

I’ve been watching Sylvie this week and wondering at  her equanimity when so many of her fellow residents are struggling so painfully.  I see it is her faith. A fellow congregant visited her last week and Sylvie told her “I have asked Jehovah to take care of things. I know he will.”

Sylvie told me she knows it will be all right, her faith told her so. She simply accepts it. In the meantime, she is independent, busy and engaged with the world. “This is where I live right now,” she said, “so it is home right now.” Wow, I thought, Sylvie has her stuff together.

I was shocked to see Sylvie playing bingo at the Danforth the other day. She never plays Bingo at the Mansion, she says a former boyfriend who died loved to play bingo with her, so in his honor she doesn’t play. She said she played at the Danforth because she doesn’t want to become bored there.

Sylvie never feels helpless in the face of turmoil. She can be imperious and demanding, but she has great strength of character, and it guides her through the ups and downs of life. This week, it was especially impressive to see.

Sylvie’s faith sustains her, she had fallen back on her God since the Mansion troubles, and it grounds her and gives her certainty and faith. She says she is never alone. I have struggle all my life with the idea of God, I often wonder how it would be if I had Sylvie’s conviction.

I appreciate her giving me something to think about, as well as someone to care for.