Red and I communicate telepathically. We both came to the Mansion Tuesday for a memorial service for Ken, Ruth’s “hubby.” Red hates smooth wooden floors so he knows stay up on the stairs with the staff and some residents who can’t make it down the stairs.
I went onto the floor to take photos and I turned around to look for Red, and there he was, happily ensconced in the middle of the staffers – all female – who work at the Mansion.
Red loves these very dedicated people, and they love him. It was a beautiful thing for me to see, he is such a wonderful and trustworthy dog. I think I will never have a therapy dog as wonderful as he is.
Wherever they go, Red and Bud seem to clog the halls of the Mansion, Jean watches them with Kayla, her comfort doll, and Tiffany and Kelly stop to love the dogs a bit. They are happy dogs in the Mansion, girlfriends everywhere.
Bud is already earning his spurs as a therapy dog at the Mansion. He checked out Kayla the Comfort Doll with Jean, and she was so happy to hold her baby and pat Bud at the same time.
I like Bud’ s patience and ease with strangers, I think he will make a great therapy dog. I think he sensed how important Kayla was to Jean and wanted to check it out.
The Mansion maintenance staff installed the new CD player we got Joan. She loves music and in recent months she has become increasingly restless and confused. Music soothes her and settles her.
The Mansion staff asked me if we could help get her a CD player, and of course we did.
Since things in her room tend to get lost or disappear, I got a CD player that attaches to the wall, and it can’t be easily removed. I also got Joan five CD’s ranging from the Beatles to Fleetwood Mac to Willie Nelson.
Tonight, a Mansion aide will put one of the CD’s in the player when Joan goes to sleep, and then come in later to turn it off. This will help her sleep and also to be peaceful, music has a wonderful impact on her.
This was a great day for me, I felt all day I was touching the residents in a modest but meaningful way. Small acts of great kindness that matter. It really only costs pennies to bright a life and bring some comfort to it and a difficult time.
Sometimes, the Mansion residents feel so alone, so left behind. I think we have helped them feel so much better. I am going to sleep happily thinking of Joanie finally with the music she loves so much and misses.
Matt is one of the most interesting residents at the Mansion, and one of the most intelligent people i have met in awhile. I don’t know his story, or even how he came to the Mansion.
He comes to our Bingo games every Friday night, and is the runaway champion, and I know him to be a voracious reader. Matt rarely asks for anything, but he asked the other night if I could help him get a sweatshirt for him.
I ordered two, one black, above, and one cranberry, coming later in the week. This is so important at the Mansion a Medicaid facility. The residents rarely have any extra money on hand.
It’s getting cold up here, and without a sweatshirt, Matt can’t comfortable go on a walk, and walking is important to him for many reasons. This is yet another example of how small acts can yield great kindness.
And this is what we do at the Mansion, we fill the small holes in life. It lifts my heart to walk the hills and see people wearing sweaters, shoes, pants, hats that we got them. Morgan Jones, the Mansion Director (she is leaving next week for another job, this one in Saratoga) told me we had transformed the Mansion with our work.
That was a good thing to hear.
If you wish to contribute to this work, you can send a contribution to me, Jon Katz. P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or donate via Paypal, [email protected]. Please mark your payment for “The Mansion.”
It lifts my heart to see Matt walking because of a sweatshirt we got for him.
