Angel came from the Ashton-Drake Galleries, the third comfort doll I’ve bought for a Mansion resident. This one was for Helen.
I was unsure of the importance of these dolls at first, there is no longer any doubt in my mind that they have an enormous impact on some elderly women in assisted care.
Their meaning to these people is almost incalculable.
They are opportunities for nurture, they ease loneliness, they promote socialization, and they give focus and structure to days that can be formless and empty.
Residents in assisted care have a lot of time to fill, and few familiar ways of filling it.
Ellen has been asking me for a comfort doll for a couple of weeks, ever since she saw Diane and Jean with dolls we purchased (we being me and the Army Of Good). Ellen cried with gratitude when she saw this doll with the baby toy lamb that came with it.
She immediately showed it to the other residents and offered it to them to hold, she thanked me a dozen times and called me “the most wonderful man.” Maybe now she won’t make so many faces at me during bingo!
Helen, one of the residents who saw Angel, took me aside and asked me if she could also get a comfort doll. She said she has never had anything like that to love in her life.
I said of course, I will order one tonight. These dollars are almost eerily life-like, and I buy another one from the Ashton-Drake collection, this one cost $149.99. It is worth it.
If you wish to support my Mansion work, donations are welcome, small ones as well as large ones. They can go to me, Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected].
These dolls are among the most meaningful things I’ve done yet at the Mansion. They really work.Thanks for helping.
Last week, we bought a white parakeet to the Mansion to keep the blue parakeet company, her mate had died several weeks earlier and the first parakeet had stopped chirping.
The Mansion residents were upset at the idea of the first bird being alone and silent. So Maria and I went to Petco and got another one, also a female.
Tonight, visiting the Mansion after the weekly bingo game, I saw the two parakeets – they have both been inseparable ever since they got together – seeming to kiss one another.
It was a touching thing to see, but I wondered if this was really a kiss, or meant something else for birds. I got online, and the answer was surprising.
Parakeets and other birds do “kiss” each other, they are showing one another acceptance and affection. It’s a sign of friendship in birds, rather than human love. Two birds who are friends will also groom each other occasionally, huddle together on their perches and snuggle together while sleep.
Parakeets can be generous as well, they will also share food, if they have a treat, they will often divide it up between the two of them and eat each one will eat an equal amount. They care for each other.
These are the perfect pets for the Mansion residents, along with their adopted rescue cat, Summer. Thank you, Army Of Good, for summer and the birds and the cage they live in.
The two Mansion parakeets – still unnamed (send your ideas for names to [email protected]) do all of those things together.
This feels quite good, the protypical small act of great kindness, and it cost $21 and some birdseed. It brought great pleasure to many people who were deeply upset, and to one sad blue parakeet. The newcomer is very happy also. Another ripple of kindness that could change the world.
Your support of the Mansion project is welcome and necessary. Please send your contribution – small contributions are very welcome – to me, Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected]. You can also send a donation using the “Support The Army Of Good” button at the bottom of each post. Please mark your payments “The Mansion.” Thanks.
One of the Mansion’s two parakeets died a couple of weeks ago, and every time I entered the Mansion, the residents told me that Pushkin, the surviving female parakeet (on the left) was lonely, had stopped chirping and was listless, and not eating much.
Living things are very important at the Mansion, everyone loves Summer the cat, who regally chooses a different room each night to sleep in.
Everyone stars checking the doors on cold nights to make sure she gets in. She always does.
I asked people at the Mansion if they wanted me to get another parakeet, but I didn’t really get an answer. Losing animals is hard for them.
Friday, several came up to me at Bingo and begged me to help get another parakeet. That was enough for me.
So Maria and I went to Petco and chose a white one. Mary, who has been caring for the parakeets, told me onFriday how much she would love to have one to take care of.
I think people were confused about it. When an animal dies, it causes a lot of pain, and the very busy aides have to watch over the animals, the residents can be unpredictable.
But the birds were very much-loved, I could see that, and everybody was worried about Pushkin, after much discussion, Maria and I decided to just go out and get another female.
So on Saturday, Maria and I slipped in and put the new bird – she cost $21, her wings are clipped, and will soon grow back – inside.
Pushkin hopped right down and sat with the new bird – temporarily, according to Sylvie, named Paco – and the two have been together ever since.
Neither one will leave the other’s side.
Today, I went back to the Mansion to visit some residents and check on the new bird. Everyone was thrilled, the residents were all talking about the parakeets, and how lonely Pushkin was and how much they missed her chirping.
I could feel the excitement the minute I came in.
There is no shortage of chirping now, and this felt as good as anything I have done with the Mansion residents. It really lifted the place up, residents who rarely speak came up to tell me about how much the two birds loved each other.
A story with a happy ending.
Maria felt that way also. I asked Sylvie to tell the Army Of Good about it, and we did a video together (see above.) Sylvie said it was hard for her to see how unhappy and lonely Pushkin was.
Sylvie writes her letters on a sofa next to the parakeet cage.
This is something the Mansion residents understand only too well. They have great empathy for animals. Thanks for helping.
If you wish to contribute to our Mansion adventures, please send a contribution to Jon Katz. P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected]. Please mark the check “The Mansion.”
You can also donate by going to the “Support The Army Of Good” button at the bottom of this post. All of that money will go to the Mansion Fund.
The Army Of Good has always grasped the importance of bringing life to a place like the Mansion. We raised money to got summer the cat spayed and vaccinated, and now she is the Mansion cat.
Six months ago, we bought this spanking new cage for the Mansion’s two parakeets, who AOG members named (I forget their names, and so has almost everyone else.) Their old cage was too small.
A month ago, one of the parakeet died, a source of great sadness for Mary, the Mansion resident who volunteered to take care of the birds. Once they were in the Activity Room, now they’ve been moved to the Mansion hallway.
Mary was deeply affected by their death.
Friday, Mary asked me again if I could get another parakeet to keep this one from being alone, she said being alone sometimes kills parakeets. There was some truth to it, the surviving bird looked pretty down.
And a number of the Mansion residents were worried about the single parakeet.
I asked everybody if I should get another parakeet, but questions like that are tricky. The staff knows that sooner or later, they will have to take care of the birds and feed them every day and clean the cages.
And they have plenty to do.
Friday night, at Bingo, Mary made another plea to me for a parakeet, and this time it got to me.
I was already thinking about whether to do it or not.
I was researching parakeets all week online, and a few days ago I went to Petco to look at the birds and talk to the staff.
We all agreed a young female was the way to go, the bird in the case was also a female, and they almost always got along. Maria and I conferred, and we decided to go for it. We both agreed the parakeet needed a companion, and the residents needed their beloved birds. We launched our own secret plan.
We told no one what we were thinking, not the staff, not Mary, not any of the residents. We had a wild storm here all day, but after my writing workshop, we drove through heavy winds and rain to get to the Petco in Bennington Saturday afternoon.
It’s about 40 minutes to Bennington from the farm, the dark and stormy wind-whipped day gave a nice backdrop to the secret plot to bring another parakeet to the Mansion cage.
We saw the birds at Petco, they were all young, they all had their wings clipped so they couldn’t fly temporarily (the feathers grow back.) A staffer came we looked through the flock – there were about 30 – and picked the one Mary said she wanted – white with some grey.
I knew from my own reading that we needed a female.
It took about 15 minutes for the store aide to get a net on the bird we wanted, then we all helped to get him into a paper box with holes in it. The parakeets are not easy to trap.
The bird cost $21 and we bought some millet to put in the Mansion cage. Since it was cold and windy, we headed for the Mansion.
We stopped quickly at a Tractor Supply to get new winter gloves for me and Maria, mealworms for the chickens, and apple and alfalfa cookies for the donkeys.
When we arrived at the Mansion, it was pouring and we saw that all of the residents were in the Dining Room eating. We grabbed the box and the millet and walked quickly down the hallway.
The office door was closed, the aides were in the dining room feeding the residents and giving them their evening medications. Tim and Matt saw us through the window, we just kept moving.
The Mansion residents miss very little and several called out to me as I headed down the hallways. I thought this needed to be a secret mission, at least for a while. Nobody else saw us or knew what we were doing. We needed deniability.
We went to the hallway where the cage is – nobody was around – and we carefully opened the big side slot where food is brought in. The box was a tight squeeze but we maneuvered around and got it in there and then moved it to the bottom of the cage, and opened it.
This was the safest way to get the new bird in there without handling it or risking an injury.
Maria is the perfect partner for a secret adventure, we both felt great doing it and were having a blast. The Mansion needs life.
Our young bird, white and grey feathers, hopped out and jumped on a lower perch. The older bird jumped down to a lower perch and the two seemed happy to see one another.
Because the newcomer’s wings were clipped, she couldn’t yet fly up to the top of the cage.
We got the box out and put some millet in, and closed the big side slot. Then we gathered out things and headed out the door. As I left, I thought it might be a bad idea to surprise Mary and the residents for various good reasons.
We looked back and saw the new one sitting calmly on a low wooden perch, clearly a sign of being funded.
So I walked down the hall with Maria to the dining room and she went out to the car to get two books of crossword puzzles I bought for Madeline at Battenkill Books just a few minutes earlier.
Madeline is a sharp puzzle fan, she always has some crossword puzzle in her lap.
So that was it, the Parakeet Adventure went off without a hitch. If asked, we will deny any knowledge of the mission. What parakeet? Where could it have come from?
Maria and I were delighted, we had a blast and it feels so good to replace that bird.
You can contribute to our adventures. If you can, please think about donation to our Mansion Fund, active as we enter the holidays. I’ve got the Gift Cards for the aides coming, and have enough money to help the residents buy gifts for the aides and their close friends. Thanks.
The residents do need some things for the holidays.
You can support the Army Of Good by going to the button beneath each blog past and contributing. You can send a donation easily on Paypal, send it to [email protected]. You can also send a check to me, Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. Please mark any payment “the Mansion.”
And thank you. I’ll sneak back in a day or so and get a video of the new bird.
Maria had a three dog night tonight. We called the Mansion Bingo game, went out to eat and came home late. We were tired. It is cold. Maria stoked the wood stove fires and sat down to get warm.
She found herself enveloped by three dogs – Fate, Bud, Red. Everybody go warm together, I could feel my heart lifting up a bit at the room warned up and Maria was able to love all three of them.
Dogs bring some of the sweetest dreams to life, they love to sit by fire and be tuoched..
