New York State ordered the Mansion and all other nursing homes and Medicaid facilities to bar visitors until further notice. That includes me, and also Maria and Zinnia.

They might miss me and Maria, but they definitely will miss Zinnia. I am sad about it, but I have no doubt it needed to be done.

I got the message this afternoon, just as I was about to go over there with Zinnia for what I imagined would be the last visit for a while – wasn’t fast enough. I wish I’d had the chance to explain my absence to them myself, they always talk a lot about people who show up, and some of them will be angry and disappointed in me, whatever the reasoning.

I know some of them will not understand, and be hurt.

I’m not surprised, I wasn’t sure what they were waiting for, it is a good and wise move to bar visitors for now, for the residents, and I suppose, also for me.

The residents are especially vulnerable.

My doctor suggested that I was more at risk than they are.

But I have come to know and love these people, and the aides as well. I will look for ways to help them without being physically present.

The Internet makes this possible for me.

I’ve asked the aides to make sure to let me know if anyone needs anything while I’m shut out.

I’m not sure I’d go that far as to say I was at greater risk than the residents, but the move makes sense and will make the residents safer. This virus leaps across boundaries quickly, and I would hate to see any of the residents stricken with it.

And I know on some level this makes me safer as well. Everything I have read suggests I would have some trouble with the coronavirus, which surrounds the heart and lungs.

Yesterday I told Georgianna and some of the others that I expected to be banned shortly, I did rush out and give her a last pack of cigarettes.

“This is okay,” she said, “we are old and will all die soon anyway, these kids need you (she knows about Bishop Maginn High School, you should go and help them.”

I will surely do that. Bishop Maginn is a private school, and they will only ban me if they want to, not because the state tells them too.

If that school closes, I am preparing to help them in several ways. I couldn’t bear to see them loose on the street with no ability to connect with their school or continue learning. Many of them will have no place to go – their parents work day and night, mostly cleaning hospitals and hotel floors.

But it seems inevitable that the school will close, even for a short while.  Catholic Schools in New York City closed down yesterday.

I am preparing to raise money to purchase Wi-Fit Hot Spot devices if the need arises and we can find enough families with Wi-Fi so the children can gather in groups.

But that is another story, for the future.

Getting shut out of the Mansion feels a bit like losing a limb, the Mansion has been an integral part of my life for several years now, I know it and the people inside and out – what rooms get hot, what rooms get cold, who needs socks or slippers or a hat, when the aides run out of coffee for the Break Room.

I just brought Tim another gift certificate to the Battenkill Book Store. I just got Bert a sweatshirt and Nancy a hat and scrubs for the residents

.

I hope the Gods keep a close watch on these people who are being cut off from their friends and families. That will make their lives a lot more barren. Zinnia can brighten it up, I hope the ban doesn’t last too long.

It’s ironic, because all of the places – nursing homes, schools,  hospitals, assisted care facilities – where she could brighten things up will no longer permit her to come. We’re going to Bishop Maginn this week unless something else happens.