Joan has lost much memory, and much remains. Her inner soul and spirit are radiant and loving and full of love and humor. We have  game we play now, when I point a camera at her, she comes rushing forward and gets as close to the lens as she can, laughing. I have to have a very fast lens setting to get a clear moving photo that close.

She loves to see if she can rattle me and has laughing fits at my confusion and discomfort. Usually I end up laughing just as hard. One of the times Joan’s inner soul reveals itself is when there is music, as there was in the Mansion today.

So I took a video of her tapping and smiling and nodding to the music. It captured the inner Joan, the radiant being who still very much exists.

Joan rushes up to me  when she sees me, we hug and laugh. She does not know my name or who I am but she recognizes me and our connection is  strong and real. She tells me when she’s had an accident and when she’s down.

Today, she turned to me suddenly and told me about the death of her husband.

He died next to her in bed, she said, she could not wake him up when night, I gathered that he had been sick. And then, she got a happy face again and we danced to the music. I never really know about the things Joan remembers. I know for sure  her daughter was murdered, and her face turns to stone when she mentions that.

I know she grew up and lived on a beautiful lake in the Adirondacks.

Come and see the inner soul of this beautiful woman, memory never dies, it just takes different forms. I have come to love Joan.

In the video, it is clear how much music means to Joan, she often remembers lyrics and can keep time with the music. Sometimes, she just jumps up and claps.

You can support my work at the Mansion by sending your contributions to my post office box,  The Gus Fund, Jon Katz, P.O.Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816m or via Paypal, [email protected]. Thanks.