17 September

Essay: Contributing To Life

by Jon Katz
Contributing To Life

When I was a young reporter, I was assigned to follow the Rev. Billy Graham around on one of his great revival meetings. I didn’t relate to the Rev. Graham all that much and was not religious in the way he was.

But as I rode around with him on a couple of plane flights and some busses and interviewed him and got to know him, I came to like him. He was an authentic man, he loved his God and wanted to do good. He was a healer, unlike so many of the politicians who hide behind the mask of God in our world.

The Rev. Graham said a number of things that have always stuck with me: Never speak poorly of your life, never complain about taxes or the prices of things.

And the last advice he gave me. As you progress in years and experience, pause every now and then to ask yourself if you are contributing to life.

An interesting idea. Until fairly recently, I rarely did that or even knew what it meant.

Some people dream of great things when they think about what they want in life, changing society, eliminating disease or poverty. Some are happy to have a family, write a book, invent a new machine, build a house or cabin in the woods.

I think so much of my happiness or sadness or fulfillment as I begin to be old depends on my own sense of whether or not I have or am now contributing something to life. I get what the Rev. Graham was saying, it was hard to see it when I was young and full of time.

Some religions – Christianity in particular – call upon the faithful to do something good for someone; to give advice,  comfort or solace to the poor or needy or vulnerable. It seems that most Christians no longer heed that call.

I’ve taken my own path, I’ve chosen to contribute the small things to life.

Sneakers for someone with bad shoes, underwear for someone whose clothes are soiled and dirty, a fan for someone who is sweltering, a deposit for a clean apartment, groceries for the hungry, a radio for someone whose brain can only be calmed by music, paint brushes for someone who wants to paint, clothes for someone going to high school.

There is a simplicity to this, and some selfishness. If I think small, I can easily be successful, it is harder to fail if my expectations are low.

If i am low in ambition, it’s hard to miss my own target. I don’t seek to save lives, but to ease pain and discomfort.

Each small act of kindness eases my self-doubt and low-heartedness. It builds the self-esteem Bill Graham was talking about. It’s important for me that my actions come not as an expression of fear, but as a reflection of my inner freedom.

Everything I do out of fear is spoiled, tainted. It is the devil in me. I have never accomplished one worthwhile thing out of fear.

It’s so easy for me to become a prisoner of my own delusions, it has happened to me so many times. I’ve learned not to judge myself by results, but by honest intentions. If I only have successes, then I become my own successes.

So now, I think I am beginning to contribute to life. I have stopped selling my identity to the judges of the world, I am keeping it for myself.

17 September

New, Fun, Mansion Activity: Tell The Residents About Your Town

by Jon Katz
Help The Mansion: Ruth And Her Llama, A Bingo Prize

Julie, the Mansion Activities Director, asked me about a new idea she had, which I loved, and I hope you do also.  It’s best told in her words, Julie is a tireless advocate for the Mansion residents and never runs out of ideas for them.

I just had a thought,” she wrote, “it would be great fun for the residents if you asked people from the blog to send a little note with information about the town or area they live in. I thought I would start a new activity where we would add their town on a map of the United States and talk about it.”

It was a good thought Julie, perfect for us and perhaps for you.

The residents love to get information like this from around the country, and learn about other people and places, it greatly eases their isolation and feeds their curiosity and connection to the exterior world.

I think the hardest thing for the residents is the feeling that no one cares about them any longer, and your messages are exciting to them and meaningful. If you like this idea just write a paragraph or two about your town.

Words will do fine, if you have a photo of someplace in your town, I’m sure they would like to see it, but it isn’t necessary. Just share some thoughts and feelings about your town, why it is special to you and what it is like to live there. Two or three paragraphs would be great.

You can send your messages about your town to Julie, c/o The Mansion, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. My blog has readers all over the country, it’s a good idea. I’d love to see your towns up on a bulletin board in the Mansion hallway.

And it costs no more than a postage stamp. The residents love to get letters, but you can also e-mail Julie the brief story of your town and she can print them out. Her e-mail is [email protected].

Again, the letters are fun for the residents to see, but the e-mails will be fine as well. I’d love to see us cover as many states and places as possible, the Army Of Good is in every state I know of except Alaska, and we might be there also.

The Army Of Good is everywhere.

P.S. I never like asking for money, but I almost always need to. The Mansion/Refugee Fund is low, down to $600, we did a lot of very important and unusually expensive things last month. This week, I’ve ordered a fireplace insert for the Mansion, a small CD player for Joan to help her stay calm and peaceful.

I want to get a Karaoke machine for the residents, they love to sing, and it is so good for them. I also need to buy some warm sweatpants and sweaters for the residents as winter approaches.

The soccer team has two birthdays coming  up and Ali and I always try to sponsor a birthday party with a present for each one, their birthdays often go unmarked. I need to pay insurance for the big Red van and help Ali with gas. We also paid $6,000 for Sakler Moo’s tuition at a private school in Albany.

That put a hole in things.

And we will be needing some new soccer equipment and money to pay for indoor soccer practice. I don’t like th fund to get lower than $2,000, I don’t believe in stockpiling money, I don’t want it sitting there, I send it out as quickly as it comes in.

I think continuing this work is critical, especially at this important juncture for our country. And the Mansion residents are in need of things, usually small and not expensive. But they still cost money.

If you can help, please send your contribution to Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816 or via Paypal, [email protected]. Please mark the payments to the “Mansion,” or “Soccer Team,” they will get where they are supposed to go. You can also support the blog by subscribing or sending a donation to “blog.”

Thanks very much, I’m meeting Ali at our “office” tomorrow, we need to support a couple of birthday parties and perhaps some more cleats.  I will soon need $500 for new Bedlam  Farm Warrior uniforms. Thanks so much.

Being a sponsor is interesting and complex. I mean to keep doing good in the world, and it is not possible without you.

And I hope you are interested in Julie’s idea for the Mansion residents. It’s a good one.

17 September

Beautiful Women, Wonderful Friends.

by Jon Katz
Wonderful Friends

I love watching Maria and Mary Kellogg together, they are both beautiful and strong women, each in their own way, each at different points of life. Maria and Maria became instant friends a decade ago, just as Mary and I did.

Mary was the first person to tell me Maria and I would be a great match, she has always supported me and supported us. When Mary and I became friends, she showed me the poems she had been writing since she was eleven (she had never shown them to anyone) and I loved them and showed them to Maria, she and I had just become friends.

One of our first acts of friendship was to collect some of Mary’s poems and publish them – My Place On Earth. The book has sold several  thousand copies, we never had the money to market it in the way it really deserved. We did publish three more volumes of her work, including the new one This Time Of Life.

We would be thrilled if Mary continued writing poetry, but it doesn’t seem likely, I have to be  honest about it.

Mary has always known where she is in life and accepted it, her love of nature and independence were always stirring to us, in a sense she became a surrogate mother to Maria, someone she could always talk to.

Mary came along when I was at my worst, and her support and love were and are so important to me. I’ve never heard Mary complain about anything, but accepting the reality that she is unlikely to ever return to her farm at age 89 was difficult for me, I can only imagine how it feels to her.

She will accept it with her usual stoicism and bravery. She is planning to come to our Open House. Even though she sometimes struggles with memory problems, she lights up when she sees Maria and the two of them talk openly and honestly and with great feeling to one another.

I am so lucky to have two such amazing women in my life, and if these two women can love me as they do, there must be some good in me.

Audio: There Must Be Some Good In Me

17 September

Wonderful Mary Kellogg, “This Time Of Life,” The Open House

by Jon Katz
Mary Kellogg, Open House 2018

Maria and I went to visit Mary Kellogg at the Holcomb Adult Resident in Granville, N.Y., today, we brought her some copies of her new book of poetry (her fourth) titled This Time Of Life. She was very happy to see this book in print.

Mary is 89 now, and she and her family have decided that this is not a good time for her to return to her beloved farm. It is a painful decision for Mary, who lived on the farm with her husband Bill, and then by herself for nearly 30 years.

Mary was a powerful symbol of independence to us, and she had – has -a Thoreau kind of love of nature, she knew every bug, deer, flower and bird that came anywhere near her farm, and was generous to the squirrels of her hill.

The poems in her book, now https://www.amazon.com/This-Time-Life-Mary-Kellogg/dp/1726431983/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1537221562&sr=1-1&keywords=Mary+Kellogg+this+time+of+life&dpID=31CW4JSH9KL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch – continue to explore her favorite themes, accepting life, nature, life on the farm and character. I asked her if she might try to write some more poems for a fifth volume, she said she would try.

I’m going to read from This Time Of Life at our October Open House – Columbus Day Weekend – Saturday and Sunday, 11 to 4. Mary says she will try to be there.

The Open House is getting exciting. Maria’s Belly Dancing group is coming to dance on Sunday, the shearer is coming on Saturday along with a bunch of gifted poets – Amy Herring, Jackie Thorne, Mary, and Carol Gulley.

Plus Maria and eight very talented local artists, the Schoolhouse Studio will be crammed with imaginative and unusual art, many people do their Christmas shopping here that weekend. And Bud, our new Boston Terrier, is coming on September 29, he will be here for the Open House.

It is emotional visiting Mary,  she so misses her life, but she also accepts that it was getting difficult to be living alone. She says the people at the adult home cook wonderful food and take great care of her. She fell and broke her hip a few months ago, it is healing well.

Mary’s spirit is proud and strong, and we very much hope to see her at the Open House. If Mary says she wants to do something, she usually does it.

17 September

Lae Pwy And Sakler Moo, Mother And Son

by Jon Katz
Mother And Son: Lae Pwy and Sakler Moo

Ali invited all of who were involved in Sakler Moo’s entry into the prestigious Albany Academy to his house for dinner last night. Ali’s elementary school teacher Caroline, who fought for him to get into the Academy for years was there.

So were about a dozen of Sakler’s friends and his very shy and quiet mother, Lae Pwy.

I had the pleasure of telling her that an anonymous donor has offered to pay her share of Sakler’s tuition – $2,000 a year – for the next three years. Ali has been talking about inviting Maria and I to dinner for a while, it was Sakler’s admittance into the Albany Academy that triggered it.

Lae Pwy struggles at times to understand that is happening around her, but she is thrilled Sakler is getting this chance to learn and grow.

I brought her some flowers, I am struck by her shy dignity. The evening was a chance for all of us together and to some degree, a celebration of Sakler’s admission to the Albany Academy. Maria and I brought home enough food to eat for several days.

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