Peggy had her hair dyed red again (I only had my black and white camera, and her fingernails painted blue. She asked Red to be her Valentine. I think he already is. When she spots him in the hall, she yells “Red,” and he comes running.
I haven’t told the residents that some of you are planning to send them Valentine’s Day cards and messages, (11 S.Union Street, Cambridge, N.Y.,12816.) They are still going through all of the Christmas messages and trying to write as many replies as possible.
It makes sense to me to space out our gifts and messages to the residents at the Mansion, I don’t want to wear anybody out, and you can’t imagine what these messages and presents mean to the people who live at the home. People are so good when given the chance.
Peggy is hot stuff, a lot of love and fun. And very full of life.
Valentine’s Day is February 14th, a Tuesday. I think I’ll bring some chocolates. Your love and generosity is awesome, I thank you. Again, the address is The Mansion, 11 S. Union Street, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.
The first names of the residents who can or wish to receive your messages are Jean A., Mary B., Gerry, Sylvie, Diane, Alice, Jean G., Madeline, John, Allan, Carl (Bob), John K., Aileen, Christie, Helen, Connie, Alanna, Barbara, Peggie, Dennis, John R., Bruce, John Z.
So it’s about love, I guess. Love seems to be the point for me these days, for my life, for the blog, for my photographs, my therapy work, for my farm and my books. Even for my fractured country. Love is the thread. I can’t seem to go wrong going with love. This afternoon, a celebration of love.
I went and got some flowers for Maria – some lilies – to bring to our motel, a simple, $89 one night stand together in a simple old motel in nearby Vermont. Bringing nothing but two books, an earphone, a camera and my beloved wife and partner. And a couple of lilies. No dogs, Ipad’s, e-mails, messages or computer.
Love is thriving at the Mansion Assisted Care Facility, a new community in my life. Thanks to many of you, there are smiles all down the corridors of a place where there are sometimes too few smiles. Thanks to you, the spirit of Christmas shined. My hope is that we can do it again, keep love going on its holiday,
This year, Valentine’s Day is February 14, a Tuesday. I hope we can show the residents of the Mansion that they are loved and known and cared for on that day by sending them cards and messages and any kind of modest gift that seems appropriate. Many of you have given plenty, and I hope no one will feel any pressure to do more.
But for those who are so inclined – I am in – that would be a nice way of extending the Christmas spirit past Christmas. The address of the Mansion is 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. The first names of the residents who wish to receive your messages and gifts are Jean A., Mary, Gerry, Sylvie, Diane, Alice, Jean G., Madeline, Joan, Allan, Carl, John K., Aileen, Christie, Helen, Connie, Alanna, Barbara, Peggie, William (Bill), Dennis, John R., Bruce, John Z.
I wondered a bit why I rented a motel room just a few minutes from our farm to be with Maria, when I am already with Maria right here. The answer, of course, is obvious. Love, this is becoming a theme of my work and life, and I celebrate and honor it by sharing a simple evening with the person I love and who loves me.
I have not known this kind of love in my life, it is a daily miracle, one I will never take for granted. So we spent a night together with our lilies, reading, talking loving and just being together. In the morning, we wake up and come home. Best bargain ever, and all for $89. That is the beauty of just being alone together, without the distractions of life.
We both know every day together is a gift. See you tomorrow.
Maria and Red and I went over to the Mansion to wish the residents a Happy New Year’s Eve.
Thanks to Kenna Ogg, an artist and quilter from Boise, Idaho, and reader of our blogs, we had beautiful Poinsetta photo notecards to give to reach resident wishing them Happy New Year.
We saw four or five residents, we spent some time with Bill O. Bill is struggling to get more mobile, he hopes to visit our farm in the Spring. He is still adjusting to his new life at the Mansion. He lost his wife of more than 60 years, Louella, last year, and had to send his dog Duke to a shelter when he came into the Mansion. He has not been feeling well, “I’m working through it,” he said, “I have to get well.”
The staff distributed Kenna’s beautiful cards this afternoon, every resident got one, Kenna made enough. Bill shows us the more than 70 cards and letters he has received from readers of the blog in the past few weeks They are in a plastic bag he keeps by his chair. He says he is reading them as quickly as he can, he says he will read every one of them, they are, he says, from everywhere.
“When in my life?,” he asked, “would someone like me get so many letters from people from everywhere.” I had no answer for him. We spent a long time listening to Bill tell stories about his life as a cook and family man. Sometimes, my work is just about active listening, like Red.
When people tell their stories, Red appears transfixed, as if he is hanging on every word.
I am thinking that the next meaning project for the Mansion residents might be Valentine’s Day, a time when they will be reminded of love, present and lost, and will need some love. I think it will be a good thing for people who wish to help them to focus on. Up here, Valentine’s Day can be heard, it comes right in the middle of February, when the winter here is usually at it’s most fierce.
I imagine that is a time when many of the residents will be thinking of love, as Bill does when he thinks of his beloved Louella. He said he never imagined outliving her.
I ran into the town postman today and he asked me what was going on at the Mansion, he said he had never brought so many letters and packages there. I told him, and he whistled, he said everyone there was so happy. Bill and the other residents love to be known and loved, and they are feeling your love, profoundly. So is the staff there.
If you care to think about Valentine’s Day and the Mansion residents, you can write them c/o The Mansion, 11 S. Union Street, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.
The first names of the residents who wish to receive messages and mail are Jean, Mary, Sylvie, Diane, Alice, Jean, Madeline, Joan, Allan, Carl, John K., Aileen, Christie, Helen, Connie, Alanna, Barbara, Peggie, Bill O., Dennis, John R., Bruce, John.
I wish the residents of the Mansion the happiest of New Year’s, and the same to all of you reading this
From the deepest corners of the second floor of the big old red barn comes the second Fiber Chair, an art project that has now begun. The first fiber chair, also made out of baling string, took two years to make and graces our back porch. Maria says she has no intention of selling it, it will just sit somewhere on the farm.
This other chair, which we think is an old Victorian frame, was abandoned up in the barn, as was the first chair (now called the Rapunzel Chair). This new chair is not yet named.
For Maria, there is really little space between her art and her life. Every morning, we cut loose a bale of hay and feed it to the animals. There are usually two strings holding it together. This afternoon, while I was at lunch, Maria began the first part of this chair project, which will also take at least a year, maybe two.
For her own reasons, she waited until today to start the new chair, she will string it every morning, no matter the temperature or weather.
The work begins when we have assembled enough baling string, and ends when the animals start grazing on pasture, usually sometime in late April or May, depending on the weather, rain, etc. Art is everywhere around here, often indistinguishable from the rest of our lives.
I am not an artist but an author, but there is little distinction between my writing and my life either, and none between my life and my photography. We are committed to the lives we are leading, and deeply moved when people tell us we inspire them. That is a humbling thing to think about, I hope it is true. Thanks for the lovely New Year’s messages we have been receiving at our post office box, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.
Tomorrow, we return to the Mansion Assisted Care Facility, to bring Red and pass out some beautiful New Year’s Greeting Cards that Kenna Ogg, a quilter and artist from Boise, Idaho, a follower of our blogs and a generous spirit, made for the Mansion residents. See the photograph below
Kenna sent one for each resident before she knew their first names, we are filling the names in for her. Kenna designed these floral cards, she took the photos of different Poinsettas, they are quite beautiful. We’re going to hand them out tomorrow and wish everyone a Happy New Year.
I’ll write more about this, but I thought for those who are interested, it might be nice for the next project to send Valentine’s or Valentine cards or gifts to the people at the Mansion for Valentine’s Day. The address there is 11 S. Union Street, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. You have all been astonishingly generous, I hope no one feels obligated to contribute further, but if you do, it will do a great deal of good.
The residents also love getting messages and cards anytime, your generosity has transformed the Mansion, and has set a wonderful tone for the New Year.
The staff will decide whether to distribute them now or hold them, unless told otherwise.
The first names of the Mansion residents are: Jean A., Mary, Gerry, Sylvie, Diane, Alice, Jean G., Madeline, Joan, Allan, Carl, John, Aileen, Christie, Helen, Connie, Alanna, Barbara, Peggie, William, Dennis, John R., Bruce, John Z.
The Mansion staff, astonished by the outpouring of gifts from you to the residents of the Mansion (even the mailman asked what was going on, he is bringing in truckloads of packages), started saving them last week, locking them up in a staff office so that every resident would have something to open, everyone would have a present under the tree.
There are presents in a ring all around the tree and under it, every one of them came from one of you and I wanted you to see what you have done. You have utterly transformed a number of lives with your generosity.
Today, the New York Times reported on a research study revealing an epidemic of loneliness among the elderly, especially those with health problems. Lonely people are far less healthy than people who are not lonely, and do not live as long. This study was painful to read, and I could feel the truth of it, I see some awfully lonely people at the Mansion, despite the heroic efforts of the staff to lift them up and connect with them.
Other facilities I have visited are not as lovingly and attentively run as the Mansion, sometimes the ache of loneliness is palpable. At the Mansion there is one resident who is suffering loneliness and depression this weekend, there has been much loss in his life. He is loving the letters he is receiving. The staff is working to ease his sadness.
But even dedicated caregivers – and loving dogs – are not miracle workers. The elderly are often isolated from the rest of us and live out of sight and often, out of our consciousness.
This will not be a lonely Christmas for anyone at the Mansion, everyone has gotten letters, gifts, cards, photos, everyone has something under the tree.
Thank you again. There are many good people out there, you are an Army Of Good.
I have, as promised, a list of first names of the residents. It’s not appropriate to provide more information than that. The first names are Jean, Mary, Gerry, Sylvie, Diane, Alice, Jean, Madeline, Joan, Allan, Carl, John, Aileen, Christie, Helen, Constance, Alanna, Barbara, Peggie, William, Dennis, John R., Bruce, John Z.
If you wish to continue your work with the Mansion residents, their address is 11 S. Union Street, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.
“Who are all these angels you know?, Peggie asked me yesterday. Angels are mysterious, I said, they come and go as they please, they do have hearts of gold. They often appear at Christmas.
