Search Results for: Madeline

I delivered our fourth portable air conditioner to the Mansion today, thanks to Kevin for hauling it in. It is for Peggie, who lives in a first floor room which sometimes gets warm. One more to go this year, that is for Sylvie, who is cold at night but warm in the daytime. We are getting close to September, not too many warm days left, There is plenty of heat in the winter in the beautiful old building, once the home of one of our town’s wealthiest families.

The Mansion is generally a comfortable place in the summer, there are lots of fans. Some of the rooms get direct sun all day and those rooms can get pretty warm.

I’ve given instructions that the air conditioners will belong to the Mansion, not the residents, so they can be used for future residents. When Sylvie’s portable air conditioner comes, everyone with an especially warm room at the Mansion and anyone who requested one will have one.

Thanks for your support for this project, it will in all, have cost about $1,500, and it will do an enormous amount of good. We cannot all do great things, but we can give small things with great love.

If you wish to contribute to the Mansion work ongoing by the Army Of Good,  you can send a donation to Jon Katz, The Mansion Fund  P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12818.

September is Assisted Care Week and I have offered to host a pizza party on September 11 at lunch time for the Mansion residents and the staff, that will be Round House pizzas for 45 people. The Army Of Good is also funding a two-hour lunch and boat ride for 12 Mansion residents and staff on September 14 with the Lake George Steamboat Company.

We have ordered 250 copies of “Tales Of The Mansion,” a collection of short stories by the Mansion residents. You can pre-order the book through Battenkill Books or call the store at 518 677 2515. It costs $10 plus shipping. The bookstore takes Paypal and major credit cards.

If anyone wishes to donate for these events, you can do so at the above address, and thanks. Here is a list of the Mansion residents who wish to receive letters, photos and messages: Jean, Ellen, Mary, Gerry, Sylvie, Jane, Diane, Alice, Jean, Madeline, Joan, Allan, William, Peter, John K., Helen, Connie, Robert, Shirley, Alanna, Barbara, Peggie, Dorothy, Art, Bruce W. John Z. Winnie. You can write them all care of The Mansion, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

At the Mansion today, perhaps the sweetest birthday party I have ever had. Once a month, the Mansion gathers people with recent birthdays, hires somebody to sing, and serves cake and cookies.Since my birthday was this past Tuesday, I was invited to come to the Mansion for some cake, a gift bag and to sing Happy Birthday.

I was flattered and pleased to be invited and included. I see that the Mansion is becoming a part of my true family now, along with Maria, my friends, the dogs and farm animals. This is where I belong, I thought, this is where I should be, this is where I feel so comfortable.

Jane showed me her beautiful new water-color, Peggie gave me a beautiful birthday present, a painting of Red and Gus, Art talked to me about his ministry.  I helped Joan come down the stairs and watched her beautiful face as she sang along (see video just below) with Red at her feet, and offered some cake to Madeline. I danced for a bit with Barbara.

Maria came also and we helped to distribute cake and presents and sang along with the country singer  who came to sing for the party. I even got my own gift bag with some dark chocolate inside.

Art came in for the celebration and Mary and Jean blew me birthday kisses from across the room. Alanna asked me if I had accepted that Fate wouldn’t hurt the sheep.

I was mesmerized by Joan singing along with Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.” Joan has severe memory issues, and it seems that music and/or a dog can pull her out of herself, she is quite  beautiful and expressive.

I was so touched by the beautiful image of her listening to this music and reacting to it.  The people at the Mansion can be poignant and heartfelt beyond my words, what a shame we have forgotten the elderly and pushed them away from us. It is our loss, they are well worth knowing.

Come and see:

I felt loved and much appreciated there, and i hope the people I have come to know and love feel the same way. I’m not sure I will ever understand my connection to the place, but it very real. I know who likes to get mail, who likes what kind of books, who misses their dog or cat, who can’t remember what they said two minutes after they said it. Red is so loved there, everyone wants to see him and touch him, and he loves to work there.

Maria is a part of my life in every way, and the residents have come to know and love her as well, she sat and chatted with people and helped them get their cake and then, clean up. The staff is so generous and loving, it pierces the heart sometimes to see how hard they work and how much they sacrifice.

The Mansion is a special place, full of heart.

Red no longer needs direction from me, he goes from one friend to the other, he is democratic and sensitive and intuitive, he knows the ropes.

Over time, the residents have become known to me, their quirks and fears. We have become more valuable to one another. I think I am getting to know how to really help some of them, it takes awhile. I even got a handshake and some smiles from some of the grumpier men, who shunned being photographed and said they dislike dogs.

I brought a proof of the resident’s short stories to show them, “Tales Of The Mansion” which has sold 100 copies at Battenkill Books two weeks before it has even come out.  You can pre- order it at 518 677 2515, $10 plus shipping or online,  they take Paypal and major credit cards.

There was some applause and two of the writers asked me what stories I was talking about. Time has a different context here.

I loved my birthday party, and am grateful for it. I am grateful to have had a party with my family and happy to sing with the other birthday people.

Other Mansion news. There is a new resident, Winnie, a farm woman. She loves to get mail and especially loves cats (The Mansion, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816).

Today, with the help of the Army Of Good, I spent nearly $400 buying tickets on a Lake George Steamboat Company steamboat called the Lac Du Saint Sacrament. We are sending 10 people – eight Mansion residents and two aides – to Lake George in early September for a lunch and boat ride on Lake George.

It’s a two-hour boat ride and the Mansion will use its new van and one car to transport everyone. I did a bit of haggling and got a slight discount for senior citizens. The residents are much excited, they have wanted to go for a long time but it’s an expensive outing for them. They didn’t want to ask me for help, but I overheard the staff talking about their struggles to make this happen. It’s happening. A wonderful trip for those who can make it.

If anyone in the Army wishes to contribute to this trip or help sponsor it, you can send a donation “Lake George Steamboat” to me at my post office box, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816 or via Paypal, [email protected]. We are steaming along ourselves.

I have enough money in the Mansion account, the trip is paid for. I  have learned that some people appreciate the chance to contribute, and even small donations keep the fun fluid, we have about $2,000 left. No pressure. Tomorrow, I purchase a portable air conditioner for Peggie, and that is, I think, the end of the air conditioning campaign.

A list of the names of the Mansion residents who wish to receive letters, photos, messages: Jean, Ellen, Mary, Gerry, Sylvie, Jane, Diane, Alice, Jean, Madeline, Joan, Allan, William, John, Helen, Robert, Shirley, Alanna, Barbara, Peggie, Dorothy, Brenda, Bruce, John Z., Winnie.

The Mansion address is 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

Art wishes to hear from people of faith, and Connie can receive messages at Saratoga Hospital, 11 Church Street, Saratoga Springs, 12886.  It isn’t clear when or if she will be returning to the Mansion.

This was a wonderful birthday week for me all around.

The new LG portable air conditioning unit the Army Of Good bought for the Mansion’s Activity Room is up and running, and the room is cool and comfortable. I am one or two units away from providing air conditioning to every one of the residents who needs or has asked for one.

I thank you for your support in providing air conditioning units to the residents in need.

Nothing in assisted care is simple. Some of the residents who asked forgot that they asked, some can’t have portable units because it can be a falling risk if they use a walker. So we have to check with the staff each time – maintenance as well as resident care – to make sure, and the situation changes fairly often.

We had a meeting this morning, Madeline gave Barbara her unit, she decided she doesn’t really want it, she can now go to the Activity Room. Peggy does want one, but the staff has to evaluate her space to make sure it won’t be a falling hazard for her. It was decided that I should order one any way.

You can contribute to this and other needs of the Mansion residents by sending a donation to my Post Office Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816 or via Paypal, ID [email protected]. Please mark all checks “The Mansion” or “Refugee Fund,” up to you.

A reminder that the Friends Of The Mansion photo contest is underway, the residents invite you to send a photo of a favorite animal, your or someone else’s, we will select three winners at the end of August and the residents will send you a surprise gift.

They wanted to pay back some of the generosity and courtesy you have shown them, and they want to show your photos on their bulletin boards. You can send your photos to The Mansion, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

It is quite wonderful to go into one of the residents’ rooms and see them so cool and comfortable. Thanks again.

I hope it’s not presumptuous to think of Gail Suderman as a friend. But I do.

It’s an odd thing to say. Gail lives thousands of miles away, I have never met her or spoken with her, and the odds are, I will never see her or speak to her. She has been reading my blog for years, as well as my books, sharing my comments with other people. Once in a while, she posts a comment or sends me a message, her name is familiar to me, and in a positive way.

She is the Artistic Director of the Good Noise Vancouver Gospel Choir in Western Canada, as far away as one can get from Bedlam Farm and still be on this continent. My most quoted comment by her, she says, is “my life is not an argument.” That is also one of my favorite comments, as many of you know.

I spent an hour listening to this wonderful choir today, there is a remarkable video posted of them singing on YouTube. To listen to this music is to be transported, perhaps even reborn a bit, it lifted my spirits up into the sky and left me speechless and near  tears.

What an extraordinary honor to be mentioned in connection with this choir of angels. It choked me up. And on the tape, I got to meet Gail Suderman, who is much more famous than I am, and is the guiding spirit behind this much-loved choir. How remarkable that she is out there drawing inspiration from the Army Of Good. I think I might need to move out there.

As I listened to the music, I found myself praying that one day I will get to Vancouver and hear them sing. What a singular blessing that would be. Listening to this music, I thought, we are all refugees, bound together on the same trip.

My quote about arguing is controversial.  it is not a view that is widely held, surely not on social media. It upsets more people than any other comment I have made, arguing other people’s ideas and belief and hating them for disagreeing has almost become our national religion in America, when it is the very antithesis of true faith.

It is something of a lonely belief.  If you listen to the Good Noise Choir, you may feel, as I did, what a sacrament really is, and how creative  spiritual can be. The joy in their hearts come out in their art.

I thank Gail Suderman for grasping and sharing that idea, but listening to her music, I see that she is living it. I mean, really, what have all of these arguments that surround us done a single thing for the world?

A few days ago, Dorothy Siebert, a member of the Good Noise Vancouver Church messaged me to say the Army Of Good, which has graced many lives with its generosity and support here in recent months, was mentioned at a gospel concert she attended, one conducted by Gail Suderman.

The world can be a small and glorious place.

This philosophy about arguing changed and shaped my life this year, as it inspired me do good  rather than argue about good, and behold, good is being done.

Gail sent me a beautiful message this morning, and I thought I should share some of it with you, I am a messenger for this Army, after all, you  do the marching.

“I mentioned your “Army of Good” at my choir’s concerts in June as a preface to a song we sang. The choir’s name is “Good Noise Vancouver Gospel Choir” (Vancouver, British Columbia).  I wanted to encourage the audience: when issues in this world seem so huge, so insurmountable at times, what is it that we can do each day to make a difference and not get caught up in the things that divide us. And I thought of the Army of Good, your Army of Good, and told the audience a bit about the work you were doing with the refugee children and the seniors at The Mansion, all being supported by small donations from many people who wanted to belong to that wonderful Army”

I think Gail said it better than I have said it, and she said it well. Our choice is to argue and be drawn to what divides, when what we can best do each day to make a difference in the world is not get caught up in argument or the things that divide us. I am not really going to try to change the world, simply touch the lives of people in ways that may seem small, but to them, are quite large.

In the Kabbalah, God contemplated the good deeds of the righteous, and drew forth light from within himself and delighted himself with holy people. In this bliss the power to create – the joyous songs of the Good Noise Gospel Choir – was born.

I can’t comprehend the whole world or succumb to the overwhelming weight of the world’s troubles. I can get help get Madeline an air conditioner and send the RISSE kids to see “Spiderman” this Saturday and help Devota pay off that misleading loan or get Mawulidi some carving tools so he can follow his bliss once more.

We are on to something. Look low, not high. Think small, not big. For the few, not the many.

I can’t change the world, but I can do good  rather than argue about what good is. We can lighten up some of the dark corners and fill in some of the  holes in people’s lives. It’s not everything. It’s enough.

Gail Suderman, thanks for bringing your heart and music into my life. I think we need to meet and I promised myself today that I will see you direct your wonderful choir one day.

We have kept Kevin very busy this week, he is the Maintenance Supervisor at the Mansion, he has spent a lot of time installing portable room air conditioners over the last couple of weeks –  into the Mansion Activity Room, and into Connie and Art and Madeline’s rooms. Two more are coming next week – for Bill and Sylvie.

I am giving the air conditioners to the Mansion rather than the residents, that way they can be used again and again over time.

I am grateful to Kevin for many reasons. He is competent, his installations are quick and efficient. He has a great and cheerful demeanor about him, and he is gentle and courteous to the residents, he knows them all by name and is very sensitive to their needs.

Then, there is also the fact that I’ve wrecked my back twice trying to carry these things, they are heavy as lead.

Mara and I get them into my car, then we drive to the Mansion entrance, Kevin take sit from there.

I am always happy to see Kevin and his rolling cart, and if he minds any of this additional work, you would never know it.

Whenever we decide to install a room air conditioner, I talk to Kevin about it, and if necessary, we go and look at the room. The air conditioners do not in any way strain the Mansion’s power or electrical system, and are not a strain on the Mansion financially.

Several rooms upstairs cannot be cooled by air conditioners for various reasons, and Kevin and I have talked about different kinds of fans than might be helpful up there.

It’s always good for me to remember these things we do greatly affect many people – not just the residents, but Kevin and his crew, the staffers and aides and administrators at the Mansion, and most of all the residents themselves. Kevin makes our good deeds become reality, and I  thank him for that.