Sylvie receives letters from all over the country now, several weeks ago, she came to me, upset, because all of her letters had been inadvertently destroyed.

I tried to reassure her, telling her there would be more letters.

A number of them were from Houston, and other parts of Texas. This morning, she watched the news from Texas and cried, she felt badly for the many victims there. She was further upset because she could not answer the letters from Texas that she had received.

She wanted to know that her friends in Texas – her words – were all right, and she wanted them to know that she cared about them and was worried about them. She felt guilty, I think, and very upset at the thought that they might think she didn’t care about them.

I lost the letters, she told me, “could you tell my friends in Texas to write me again, so I can answer them and know that they are all right.” I said of course I would, but I cautioned her that it might be difficult for some people in Texas to get my blog right now, and for them to get to the post office and send letters off.

 

I’m sure they would write you again, I said, but it might take a while. Many homes had lost electricity, and many homes were destroyed.

She said she knew. Sylvie and I have a closeness that is hard for me to define. I think we simply trust one another. Sylvie can be strong-willed, even difficult, but she has a heart full of love and a great sense of integrity.

I could feel her anxiety over this.

I had his sudden impulse that Sylvie ought to put the request in her own words, and I asked her if she wanted to do a video to her friends in Texas, and she jumped at this opportunity, she said she did. Sylvie always wants her portrait to be taken. I thought this might help her feel that she was trying hard, and she is.

Her words touched my heart. So I recorded a brief video to help her feel easier, less guilty and less anxious. When it was done, she said she felt much better, and I could see that was true.

So come and meet this remarkable woman with such a big heart, who has battled mental illness for much of her life, and who lost the love of her life more than once. Sylvie knows what it means to suffer.

If you are from Texas, or Houston, and you read this and are safe, and can write and post a letter to Sylvie, that would be great. If you can’t, I will explain that to her, we know how difficult it is there now.

People elsewhere should feel free to write her also, if they wish. You can write Sylvie c/o The Mansion, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.