Maria and I went to work in the Mansion’s relatively new Memory Care unit. She worked with the residents on painting and drawing; I took some portraits. I was struck by how pleased the residents were to be photographed. They all wanted to see their faces and were surprised and happy.

This class was held in the room dedicated to Maria and me and the Army Of Good.

The portrait taking was particular. It was almost as if they didn’t recognize themselves quite at first. The staff is putting up the Army Of Good shadow boxes; we bought them last year.

Each resident puts something personal in them to recognize their rooms from the outside. I’ll come back this week to photograph some of the boxes when they are all filled in. Each resident has a box hanging right outside their door.

(Ron was an avid fisherman almost all through his life. He was excited to sketch a fish. He was happy with it. So were we. He always shakes my hands when I greet him; we always have a good talk.)

This portrait work is unique to me; it’s about capturing souls that are sometimes forgotten by the outside world.

Peggy is a student in my meditation class and a regular at my morning prayer sessions. She is a warm, and loving human being and especially loves working with Maria.

Maria has an excellent gift for this work, people are easy talking with her, and she knows exactly how to communicate with them. I enjoy talking to them very much; the conversations are unique once you get used to them.

I plan on making weekly visits to Memory Care with Zinnia.