I knew something was off when I saw the three empty chairs of the Secret Garden Sunday at the Mansion Sunday.

Fate spotted Nancy sitting up on the porch by herself. What’s the matter, I asked? Where are Bert and Georgianna?

Nancy looked lost, and she told me she knew Bert had been taken to the hospital, and she didn’t know where Georgianna was. I found that Georgianna was also in the hospital.

I really can’t offer any more details, other than that Fate and I stopped to talk with Nancy and sit with her, she admitted that she was lonely and a bit disconnected.

She didn’t want to sit in the Secret Garden chairs by herself, so she sat on the porch.

A couple of things. It is common when I go to the Mansion to learn that a resident or member of the staff is gone, taken to a hospital or nursing home, or off at a new job.

There are few goodbyes or going away parties at the Mansion, too much coming and going.

Sometimes these people come back right away; sometimes, they come back in a day or two.

Sometimes they never come back.

Just this week, DorLisa and Brittany, two of the Mansion aides I dealt with most frequently, are suddenly gone, working in a different elder care facility, probably for more money.

I didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to either of them, and I will miss both of them. I was sorry to see those empty chairs in the Secret Garden.

Under the law, I can’t reveal anyone’s medical information or condition without their given permission. So I can’t talk about why they are in the hospital.

But I can say that both are all right, and are expected to be back in the Mansion tonight or tomorrow. That was good to hear.

The Mansion is a wondrous, almost mystical roller coaster of life, it is almost in motion, the hard realities of life in assisted care are never far away.

I’ll be happy to see them in their seats this weekend or in the Great Room watching TV in the Great Room. Nancy will be even more pleased.