I’ve learned in my work with the Mansion residents to bring necklaces. The residents love almost any kind of necklace, especially those colorful or have a spiritual or religious significance.

When I do my meditation classes, I hand out colorful bead necklaces made by my Amish neighbors and their relatives. The residents often forget them, but I had out new ones anyway. Some wear two or three and have five or six back in their rooms.

I never know if they really forget them or if they are collectors..

The necklaces are not a bribe, but it is an enticement, an acknowledgment.

When the residents receive a gift, they assume the gathering must be meaningful; someone is bothering to get something. They listen more closely and participate more willingly. They get more out of it. And they come back.

I bartered goods and services with the Amish for necklaces and bracelets; the necklaces go to the Mansion residents and the students at Bishop Maginn High School. They love the necklaces also, and within a couple of months, every student who wants one will have one.

They loved bright jewelry; they loved being talked to; they loved receiving attention and gifts; during the meditation, they touched the necklaces, rubbed them, clung to them.

Last week, I started a weekly prayer and spiritual reading in the morning, just after breakfast. My session tomorrow was canceled; someone at the Mansion might be sick and has to be tested.

Last week, I ordered a dozen simple crosses to hand out to the residents who come to the prayer class, not tentatively scheduled for Thursday, pending test results.

Today, I spent a couple of hours getting the crosses out of their package and ready to be placed over the heads of the people in attendance. I’ve got a cross for everyone who shows up.

They light up at the idea of necklaces, it’s become a staple of my classes, and I love seeing how good they look on the residents and how happy the necklaces make them.