Meet Peggy from the Mansion, she wishes to say hello and thanks for the gifts and cards she has received. As I mentioned earlier, I’m not comforting releasing any personal information on the residents, neither is the Mansion staff. It is okay to list the first names of people – those who wish to receive messages. Some of the residents are intensely private, and Red and I will, of course, respect that.
The first names I can share 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.
I’d love to keep this going, but also to urge perspective. Messages and cards in a steady stream is the best way to touch the hearts and souls of the residents, especially after the holidays. Thanks so much.
At the Mansion today, Connie said she would like to say thank you and wish you all a Merry Christmas, she says it is a gift to be reminded how many good people there are. The video speaks for itself. I took several today at the Mansion, and I will post them over the holidays.
Connie has three big baskets of yarn to work with, she is cranking out mittens, and soon, scarves. She and Red are very good pals.
The Mansion staff also gave me permission to list the first names of Mansion residents, for those who want to write them or send them cards. In in the interests of helping the residents, there are some boundaries we should talk about. Most of the residents are very open to messages from outside, some wish to remain private. People thinking of visiting would do best to contact the Mansion first, to make sure the residents are well and the schedule is open.
A number of you have been asking me for birth dates and other information, I am not comfortable providing that or asking for it. I think we do need to be mindful or privacy, and the Mansion cannot release medical or personal information. Please be mindful that some of the residents are ill and wish to keep to themselves.
It is difficult to say what gifts are needed, the residents are well cared for and have what they need. Gifts are personal, and vary from individual to individual. In the winter, scarves and quilts and caftans are very welcome, the homemade bears were a big hit, but I hear more than anything about pictures, letters stories and cards.
Books and puzzles are much appreciated.
Beyond that, your involvement is most welcome and people should feel free to communicate with any of the names I am listing here. The best approach is to send messages and cards in a continuum over time, the messages and cards and letters seem to mean the most to people, although they love the pictures and cakes that have arrived. I think, from my observations, that messages, letters and cards mean the most and touch them the most deeply.
From my observation, what lifts them up the most is the idea that people care about them and know how alive they are and in need of human contact. I have vowed to myself to keep visiting, it feels like an extension of my home at the Mansion, a part of my family. The people who own and run it are good and very conscientious and loving people, the staff is amazing. I know they don’t make much money, but if you paid on the basis of big hearts, they would all be very rich.
There is a feeling in institutions of being cut off from the world and forgotten, and the messages remind them that they are not forgotten, and they love the pictures and good words and stories you are telling them.
On Christmas day, many of the residents will be off with their families, Maria and Red and I are planning to stop by in the morning. Thanks to you good people, the tree will be stuffed with presents for everyone.
Here is the list of first names of Mansion residents, they can all be written at this address: The Mansion, 11 S. Union Street, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. Red and I have met most, if not all of these people, some do not wish to see a dog, or to see me.
The first names of residents wishing to have messages 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, and John Z.
On the first floor of the Mansion, there is an activity room, with games, puzzles and a big screen television. Some afternoons Julie Smith (center) the activity room, leads a dice game (I can’t remember the name) and three or four residents came in. Joan, on the left, has trouble seeing, but she was mesmerized touching Red and feeling his soft fur and warmth. These two connected right a way, she sensed his connection to her, he sensed her need for him.
I see these connections all the time, they are beautiful and inspiring to me. They are the payoff of therapy work. Joan sat out the game and communicated with Red.
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Your cards and messages line the walls of the Mansion, thank you. If you wish to write Jane or Connie or Madeline or any of the residents of the Mansion, you can do so by writing The Mansion, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. And thanks for the quilts and shawls and caftans as well. You are doing great good.
Your gifts to the residents of the Mansion Assisted Care Facility in my town of Cambridge have upended this quiet and peaceful place. There are blankets, bags of yarn, books, letters, cards, paintings, drawings, stuffed animals, photos, poems and too many other gifts to remember.
Your letters and gifts (The Mansion, 11 S. Union Street, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816) have been transformative, the messages alone have filled three bulletin boards. In this season of anger and disconnection, you have made the Mansion a place of love and connection. Your messages mean more than I can say, everyone Red and I see them is talking about them, and many of them sit on tables by bedsides, already dog-eared and read again and again.
The blankets are being used, the paintings hung, the messages read, the yarn is being spun. The care at the Mansion is loving and thorough, the staff is generous, attentive and present. Yet there is something inherently isolating about people being cut off from their lives, families, friends, animals and routines.
The residents are much lifted up by your gifts and thoughts and caring, they say they feel connected and known. Peggy loves the letters she got about her hair color change and painted fingernails.
I feel so very much alive when Red and I are there, I am getting to know some of the residents now, and they are beginning to open up to me about their lives, always so much more interesting that I might otherwise have guessed. These are people who need to be talked to. Often, I just sit down in a chair and let them talk to Red, sometimes they want to talk to me.
Sunday, we spent a half hour with Madeline, one of the center’s newest residents, she is 94 years old, lived and worked in Brooklyn before moving upstate with her husband, who died some years ago. Her daughter needed help and wanted her nearby, Madeline says she is very happy at the Mansion, she is physically in good shape, she walks the halls much of the day.
She and Red bonded last week and he sniffed down the hallway and found her in the activity room, watching TV with a friend. Madeline loves Red, she exploded with excitement at the sight of him and he melted into her arms, as he can do. Madeline is convinced Red’s collar and flea collars are too small, when he is there I have to take them off, I cannot convince her that they are comfortable and don’t try. She worries about him.
Madeline was a phone company executive in New York City for some years, and has never fully embraced the country, it just is not, she says, “as exciting as the city.” But she is upbeat and does not care to look back much. She is an avid reader of non-fiction books, history and other topics.
Today, we saw Madeline, Connie, Chrissy and Mary. Peggy loves getting mail also. You can write to them or any of the residents at the Mansion if you wish, these small acts of kindness are lighting up this corner of the world. The staff says they have never seen anything like it. I do beam with pride at the people who read my blog.
The Mansion, 11 S. Union Street, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. I am planning to buy them some Christmas lights, or flowers for their rooms.
