7 February

Videos: Breakthrough At The Mansion: Memory And Voice Come To Life

by Jon Katz

 

 

Breakthrough At The Mansion: Allan Becomes A Leader

Today, for the first time, I spoke to the Mansion residents about the reading2connect books I have brought into the Mansion to help revive and strengthen memory and voice for the elderly. The books are intended to give the residents the tools and opportunity of connecting with one another, reading independently, and also reviving memory that appears to be lost or fading.

The one-on-one projects I’ve begun have been remarkably successful.Today, as a winter storm raged outside, I brought the idea to the group as a whole,  and challenged them to read with me, and to me, and then to one another, using these new tools I’ve found.

I admit I was amazed at the response, it was much greater than I anticipated,  any wariness or skepticism I had evaporated quickly, as you can see for yourself in the video below.

The residents came to life, they pitched in with answers to the workshop questions, rushed to the support of one another, and almost everyone in the room said with great enthusiasm they wished to continue the reading program. They  wished to do the exercises with me, and also with one another and with no staff or teacher.

In fact, they were hungry for it.

This is precisely what the programs founders, Susan Ostrowski and Peter Dixon, hoped their books would achieve, and it was a thrilling moment for me to witness. At first, the residents were tentative, then with each question more and more joined in. I talked about the opportunity to strengthen memory, and reminded them of the many benefits of reading, no one need persuaded, their hands shop up to join.

I said I would stick with them and follow this through.

The picture above is of Allan, a resident I have never photographed and who I rarely spoke with. In many of the gatherings where I was present, he has been silent or distracted. I just assumed he wasn’t interested.

Today, he eagerly jumped into our shared reading, he answered every single question, and he answered every single question correctly.

I did not see him in this way, and I realize I have neglected him, perhaps he is generally silent and I just assumed he wasn’t interested. I was wrong, and these books brought him sharply into focus for me, he could be an influential and effective spur for reading and memory work at the Mansion.

He got the program instantly and when I asked if I could take his picture, he said “sure,” almost as if he had been waiting for me.

In this piece, I’m posting two of the videos I took today with my Iphone, I wanted to share what I was seeing with you.

In the first video, about a third of the Mansion residents listen eagerly to the workshop questions, are also eager to finish the phrases left blank,. They interact with one another, offering help, interpretations, pronunciations. I said I thought this was like exercising our memories, the more we did it, the better the outcome. Think of it as mental jogging, I said.

 

Joan is a precious spirit, and last week, and I have come to love her. She could not even focus on lifting a pencil in art class last week. She has been unable to engage in sequential conversations.

These reading2connect workshop books brought her right into the moment, and while our dialogue is usually indirect and circular, something familiar  to those who work with the memory impaired, Joan seems to change when doing these exercises. In this work follows conversation, offers relevant and increasingly responsive comments and we are all surprised at what she can remember.

Joan  cannot remember her room or where it is much of the time, she must always ask someone to help her when it’s time to go there. Yet working with these books, she is pulling more and more of her memory out, and is visibly empowered by her success, rather than frustrated or brought down by her confusion.

I see that many of the residents have simply given up on memory, and reading as well. The idea that they might reclaim even a piece of either is thrilling for them. They want to be stimulated, they all say they spent too much time doing nothing.

Joan asked me if I can work with her tomorrow, and I will. And I noticed that she came looking for me at 2:30, I told her yesterday I would be at the Mansion then to do my poetry workshop. She clearly remembered I was coming, where I would be, and at what time. This was very surprising to me.

As I left tonight, a woman I won’t name came up to me and clutched my arm and kissed me on the cheek. “I can’t tell you how much this means to me, I have forgotten all about reading and I miss it so much. Please come back and find me, I want to do this with you.”

I will come back and find  her for sure. I always keep in mind that this is not a miracle cure, I have seen no evidence that people with memory loss can reclaim all their memory with a book, or by reading, or by any other single means. But perhaps they can advance in small steps and get to a better place with both.

But there is something powerful and even spiritual happening here, I can see it and so can  you. I am eager to see just how far this can go, and I want to be patient and cautious about it.

There are many obstacles to reading at the Mansion – age, health problems, vision problems, memory loss, medications. I know some of the residents just can’t read, but they do love being read to, and for some, reading can be reclaimed.

It is something they can do with one another, they don’t need anyone other approval or program. It is free, they need no subsidies. We have pushed the elderly to the edges of our consciousness, they often feel abandoned and grieve for the loss of almost everything they love. Reading and memory can help them find the lost parts of themselves and give them dignity and pride. Just look at the faces in these videos.

I told the residents I will buy more books and I will begin leaving them with people who want them. We will work hard to revive memory and voice. As always, I will share this with my readers, I believe in being open. More later.

7 February

Love’s Despair: Poetry In A Storm

by Jon Katz
Love’s Despair

Here’s the way my poetry workshop works. Once a month, we meet in the Mansion Activity Room, the workshop usually draws about 15 people. We choose a topic – today it was “Poetry In A Storm.” We ask people in the room to offer their ideas about the poem and today, they all wanted a poem that rhymed.

When, everyone has added their ideas, I talk to them, read them some poems I have chosen, and take the poems home and pull them together. Julie Smith, the Activities Director at the Mansion, writes them up on the board.

We struggled to rhyme today, but the feeling behind the poem was strong and clear. I can pull it together.

I hope we can publish these poems in book form, the way we did the Mansion book, “Tales From The Mansion.” This day was special, the biggest storm of the season was  raging outside, and I felt strongly drawn to get there, which I did, although a bit late. I’ve never seen the roads in my town so empty or slick, people know how to handle snow up here.

I was so glad I went, I was right. Even on cold and wet days, the residents go outside for short walks or to sit on the porch. They were feeling landlocked today, and I think a bit lonely.

The poem about love circled around, there were stories about the heart and lost loved and lost loved ones, and love left behind. This one is going to be tough to pull together, but it meant a lot to the people writing it together, I am surprised at the deep love of poetry some of the residents have.

Madeline, Tim, Allan, Peggie seemed the most interested in poetry, I think they would love any poets sharing their own poems or their favorite poems with them. You can write them c/o The Mansion, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

7 February

Digging Out. “A Snow Pussy Not.”

by Jon Katz
Digging Out

I don’t really know how much snow fell on us and others tonight, you can see it was a lot. The storm is beginning to soften, and after dinner, Maria and I went outside with shovels and brushes and dug out the cars and shoveled some paths – one to the chickens, one to the pasture gate, one for Gus to go outside, the snow is much taller than he is.

I did a lot of shoveling, and tomorrow, I have to get a ton of snow off of the roof.

I lost my mantle of snow pussy today, i drove through the storm to the Mansion, where I was scheduled to do a poetry workshop and some reading classes, and Maria said I was a “Snow Pussy Not.”

It looks like about a foot of snow, this is going to be a whale of a mud season. The farmers say the cold will start moderating towards the end of the week, and that is good news.

The Mansion trip was a bit of a white-knuckle drive, the roads were all ice and snow, but it was worth it, we had a great time, and I think they appreciated a visit with me and Red, they felt a bit snowbound in there all day. Nobody could even go out on the porch. We wrote a poem together, it was all about love.

I thought some of them might be a bit lonely, I think some were.

Tomorrow, Vince, the snow plough person, will come early and dig out the driveway. I had no trouble getting in and out this afternoon, but there was a whole lot of snow since then. Maria and I are both wiped out from all that digging, I feel quite safe shoveling although my angina kicked up tonight and I stopped.

I enjoyed the silence and the warmth inside I felt fortunate, as always, that we were warm and dry and have everything we need. We know that is not true for everyone in the world.I hope everyone had good luck weathering the storm and digging out.

We’re in good shape for tomorrow, we both plan to go out for various reasons. Gus had a good day, I think some dietary changes are working well. No incidents of any kind today. And I got promoted to “Snow Pussy Not,” that’s something.

7 February

Gus’s ME Journal: 1/7/18- Snow Dog: Change Of Diet

by Jon Katz

 

Snow Dogs:Fate And Gus

Gus came out with us in the storm, no need for a muzzle today, even Gus couldn’t get through the snow and ice to eat forbidden things. He loves to work with Fate and keep an eye on the sheep.

Some nutrition news related to Gus’s megaesophagus. We are switching his food (gradually) from Pro Plan EN gastroetric food to Canin Royal Turkey and Potato (in a can.) I suggested a food that was a little more filling and also good for digestion and Dr. Fariello chose the turkey and potato.

This is intuition, not science, but I just have the feeling the food is too bland, he is a high energy dog and needs something a bit stronger. That’s my hunch anyway, Dr. Fariello thinks those instincts are good.

We’ll keep adding some of the Royal Canin Recovery hi-calorie food, and I told Dr. Fariello I had been putting some plain vanilla yoghurt into Gus’s food to encourage liquidity, to help lubricate the food so it will go down his esophagus more easily and fluidly.

Gus seems hungry to me, even after eating the EN, so I think he needs something a little more robust. He is not dropping weight the way he was, but not gaining weight either, which we would like.

I am not feeding him small amounts of food five or six times a day, as recommended.

He has tolerated the yoghurt very well over the past few days and regurgitated only once or twice, which is quite natural for megaesophagus dogs. I would prefer for Gus to be healthy, but I welcome the creative challenge of megaesophagus, since no one knows what causes it and there is no cure for it, the treatment is open to experimentation and innovation.

I’ll keep at it until we figure it out in more depth. Gus is looking good, he is active, affectionate, a terror much of the time. He does not in any way appear to be a sick dog. I think we are making headway, one small step at a time.

 

 

 

7 February

When The Merry-Go-Round Stops

by Jon Katz
When The Merry Go Round Stops

The big storm began around 10 a.m.,and one of the things I very much appreciate about the big storms is the silence they bring with them. The world becomes quiet, primal, there are few trucks and cars, stores and schools and businesses close, the big plows usually wait until the weather settles.

Looking out of my window, I see an occasional brave little car taking somebody to work who has to go to work. I am grateful to work at home, and for myself. Except for chores, shoveling and shopping, a storm day is not really all that different from any other day.

The birds come to the feeders are little more urgently, perhaps, the donkeys and sheep hole up in the Pole Barn, Red and I went out to check on them and everybody was dry and in their place, waiting for the storm to pass. They have good fresh hay and warm water and shelter, that is all I can give them, and more than they really need.

Red is, as always, oblivious to weather, he just keeps order. Maria came in from her studio to have lunch – we had soup. She is making some wonderful hanging piece, and is happy. We go out every once i awhile to shovel, in this kind of storm, the paths are obliterated before we even get back into the house.

I have a veggie thin-crust pizza from the Round House in the freezer, that will be dinner. We’ll shovel some more, and then read for a few hours. I might need a nap. I am thinking of making a dash for the Mansion this afternoon, my poetry workshop is today at 2:30. Maria, who calls me a snow pussy, says I shouldn’t go, but I know she would go in a flash if it was her workshop.

I see the plows beginning to come out, I might just go for it, but we’ll see. Snow storms are a part of life up here in the winter, and I don’t like to let them drive me indoors.

For now, the Merry-Go-Round has stopped and I am drinking in the silence and feeling of solitude.

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