Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech was a big deal to me, I watched it and listened to it many times. When Julie, the Mansion Activities Director, asked me if I would consider reading a part of the speech to the Mansion residents who were not evacuated, I readily agreed.

I brought a copy of the speech to them and talked about it, and the civil rights movement – which I covered later as a reporter, and also about King and what he meant to the country and to African-Americans.

These eight residents have remained in the Mansion while extensive work is done in the rest of the building. They are also a bit disoriented and restless, I know they love being read to, so I plan on doing this several times a week, both at the Mansion, and at the Danforth Adult Care Center, where the evacuated residents are.

I saw the culture divide right away. Madeline grew up in a Jewish orphanage in the Bronx, there were no blacks or people of color in the orphanage, and she said she never heard race ever discussed. She said she had vague memories of Dr. King as a “gentleman” who spoke softly and courteously.

I asked Matt if he remembered Dr. King or his famous speech, and he said he knew the name. “But where I grew up, here in Cambridge, there weren’t any black people so we never talked about him or them.” The Mansion residents were eager to hear the speech, but they didn’t really have anything to say about racism, except that it was a bad thing. And perhaps that was more than enough. I didn’t push it.

What was important to me, needn’t be important to anyone else. In my small rural farming town, the travails of race and the South were very far away.

I asked each of the residents what they might have put in their own “I Have A Dream” speech, but there were no responses. This was such a central event in my life, but it had no real meaning for them. I  understand that and respect that. I didn’t wish to force it.

There were a lot of nodding heads, so I decided to drop it and just read stories to them.

I brought several books with me, “A Loving Voice: A Caregiver’s Book of Read-Aloud Stories for the Elderly;”and “An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good,” by Helene Tursten.

I read two or three stories from the first book – one was about a boy terrorized by a big dog, and another was a spooky tale about a gardener who was in fact a ghost,  a former lover named Mrs. McCready who had rejected him. He haunted his lost love for decades (lovingly) until she died, caring for her garden. The children of the story saw the gardener very clearly.

When she was found by some neighborhood children,  there was a bouquet of flowers by her body.

They absolutely loved “An Elderly Lady…” a series of stories about Maud, an elderly widow who lives in downtown Gothenburg, Sweden. Now in her late eighties, Maud leads a solitary life, but she has a surprising way of resolving other people’s troubles: she murders their tormentors. The police can’t believe this sweet old lady could be a murderer. She has a lot of fun killing people who deserve it.

I wasn’t sure how this story would play, especially on Martin Luther King Day. They just soaked it up and begged me to come back tomorrow and read more Maud stories. The idea of this savvy and bold old lady murdering the bad guys was wondrous to them.

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I’ve ordered some cakes for both groups of residents from the Round House Cafe. I’m getting more DVD’s puzzles and crafts for the residents during this hard time for them. I will also be bringing some flowers and some new stuffed animals.

If you wish to support this Mansion work, you can send a donation, either by Paypal: [email protected] or by sending a check to me: Jon Katz, Mansion Fund, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y. 12816. Thanks. I believe we are making a real difference to these people in their time of need.