Gloria (above) re-joined the meditation class today; she couldn’t attend the last few sessions. My classes are small and intimate, which has worked out very well for me and my idea of a meditation class.
Gloria has the softest, sweetest face, and I love the delicate portraits my camera takes now. She is the Meditation photo of the week.
The Mansion residents are farmers and working-class people, and when I say “meditation class,” I see them blink, shake their heads, and sometimes even wince. Meditation is for hippies and college kids and strange Indian priests and monks. It is not for them in most cases.
I’ve got five or six regulars, and the groups swell sometimes. One on-and-off attendee admitted to me she’s only in it for the Amish necklaces I hand out. She’s got three of them now.
That’s as big as I think a meditation class ought to go. The course means a lot to me. I play a guided meditation and lead a silent one. We talk before and after.
The holidays have special meaning in the Mansion. A lot of it is sad.
They miss their old holidays, their pets and family, and food and life. I see their moods start to sag in late November. They can’t have what they most want, their old lives back. But it is very good, I think, for them to talk about it.
The staff asked me to buy a Santa suit, a Grinch suit, and a Mrs. Claus suit. All three are there or on the way. They are planning a Christmas party.
The pandemic has dramatically affected the Mansion staff and residents. There are still many rules and restrictions, and the Mansion is still understaffed, and gifts mail and visits are still under particular conditions.
During the holidays, I step up my visits to the Mansion and the Memory Care unit. It’s a hard time for the residents. Zinnia brings a smile to everybody’s face. I’ll make it a point to come by several times a week and offer to visit on Christmas Day.
The aides think I’ll be upset with small classes, and they love to see the residents out of their rooms and moving on a cold and icy day. I know they sometimes push the residents to come. I am grateful that they worry about me, but I have come to love these small classes.
We feel pretty close to one another.
We really talk to each other about the realities of their lives, something they rarely get to do. When an aide or official comes by, they tend to clam up.
Write them if you like, and the staff will distribute your messages: Christmas Cards c/o The Mansion, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. They love to get letters and photos.
Note: I’m afraid I can’t offer lists of residents right now. The staff is so busy and stretched I don’t want to ask them to go and collect each of the forms they would need to fill out right now. I think we can do it in January. Thanks for your patience.
You can contribute to our Mansion work via Paypal, [email protected], or Venmo, Jon-Katz-13. You can send a check in any amount to Jon Katz, Mansion Fund, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y. 1286. The holidays are a busy time at the Mansion, especially with all the Covid dislocations and suffering. Thanks for your help, the fund is getting low again.