Maria and I spent the morning creating a banner that reads “Heroes Work Here,” we’re taking it over to the Mansion as soon as its finished and installing in out front, where passersby can see it.

The Mansion aides are heroes; for months now, they’ve worked grueling hours, on double shifts, with anxious and isolated residents.

It is wonderful to say that because of their grinding and relentless work, not a single Mansion resident has tested positive for the coronavirus, this in a state where more than 4,000 older people died in nursing homes and assisted care facilities.

I’ve done everything I could think of to do for the aides – bought masks, toys for their homebound kids, food cards for their families, special dinners and lunches, clothes if they needed any.

We did the same for the residents, but the aides were and are especially heroic in their dedication, their willingness to work long hours, their struggle to keep the resident’s, the morale high, the constant cleaning and spraying and disinfecting to keep the residents safe.

A week ago, Bonnie, a Mansion administrator, e-mailed me and asked for help in honoring the aides for the extraordinary work they have done. We agreed to make a “Heroes Work Here,” banner for the front entrance to the Mansion.

This task is a pleasure, and it is once again a great book to have an artist in residence. I painted a few of the letters but stopped, her hand is steadier.

Tuesday, Jean’s Place is delivering a special cake for the aides, it reads Mansion, 2020, Heroes Work Here.

I see signs that the whole country is appreciating the heroic work health care workers are doing. Perhaps one day, we will pay them what they deserve.