I bought Sylvie a beautiful old journal book – no lines on the pages, which I know she treasures. I know she makes notes about her faith and her friends and there are notes and paper scattered all over her room.

She loved the book, I found her in the activity room, sitting on what looked to be a throne in a gorgeous red robe. She had been sick and was recovering. She had one of her new hats on.

Her walker, next to her was shrouded in tote bags – she lost most of hers. Sylvie has a regal bearing, I call her the Mansion Queen. Like Maria, she is very much her own person, she dresses in  her own style, like no one else.

I miss her in my meditation class. She is a Jehovah’s Witness  and she said she learned that meditation was not compatible with her faith, and I respect that, of course. Sylvie knows her mind.

She is a serious person, full of memory and faith. She is a faithful letter reader and writer. She considers the people who write her to be her friends, and now that I am putting stamps on them and checking the addresses, many are now getting through.

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

It is a privilege – a small thing – to supply Sylvie with stamps, envelopes, writing paper and some journals (and tote bags, of course.) She never fails to thank me, and I hope I never fail to thank you.