(Clay sent the jacket that Claudia loves.)

A few days ago, I wrote about my frustration with people who send me boxes without asking; in a small farmhouse, it’s getting crowded, and I hate giving away or destroying things other people care about.

This being America, one woman named Vivian took the time to write and call me an “asshole” for writing too specifically about a man who had just sent me one of those boxes; she said he would feel awful.

I didn’t think anyone would want the jacket; I was wrong.

Clay did not feel awful; he wrote me back to say that he would let me know if he wanted to send something; he found it quite reasonable. Clay was decent and courteous.  Curious how these things work.

In our country now, people are so eager to be angry and self-righteous that they decide to be angry on behalf of strangers they don’t know in order to insult other strangers they don’t know for things that are not their business.

I am learning to laugh about it.

I believe in the coming Spiritual Century. We need it.

One person’s asshole is just another man trying to get organized.

I wasn’t sure if I could find a home for the two jackets he sent me,  no one at the Mansion had asked for one. But Cladia jumped right away at one and I gave it to her. So thanks, Clay, for sending the jacket and for understanding with grace what I was asking for.

Claudia could not have been happier, and I was grateful for that.

Today, we showed up bearing gifts. The jacket, a bag of jewelry, and books and passages to read. I ordered some things for the Mansion Activity program – magic markers and red folders to hold artwork and paintings.

I also read from Joan Chittister’s book “Grace Filled Moments.”

“Whatever you really wanted to do in life but could never manage, do it now. Get as close to it as you can get. As Honore de Balzac wrote, “Vocations which we wanted to pursue, but didn’t, bleed, like colors, on the whole of our existence.”

 

Jewel wearing one of the pins I brought. The Meditation classes are successful and, lately, popular as well. In my first class, no one had ever heard of meditation, and hardly anyone wanted to try it. Now we have to bring in extra chairs to make room for all the students.

This lifts my heart.

 

Jane, an artist who lives in the Mansion Memory Care unit, likes to show me her latest work. I like to see it.

The meditation class has really taken hold. We had SRO in the activities room today. I gave Sharon a weekly calendar for 2024; she has weekly doctor’s appointments.

The residents pay close attention to the readings and meditate with purpose and conviction. They tell me it has made a huge difference for them.

I distributed 30 pieces of jewelry I bought at the Senior Center Thrift Shop for $30.