Day: November 21, 2017

“Life is sad, Life is a bust,

All you can do is do what you must,

You do what you must do and ya do it well

I’ll do it for you, honey baby, can’t you tell? – Buckets Of  Rain, Bob Dylan.

I had the sweetest time at the Mansion this afternoon. I passed out some winter hats to people who wish to keep their heads warm. At the memorial service for Connie Tuesday morning, Ruth, a new resident, gestured to me and said she wanted to talk to me after the service.

I came up to her and she asked if Maria might be able to knit her a winter hat, she didn’t have one.

I told her Maria didn’t knit hats, but I would be happy to get her one, and she thanked me. When I went home, Maria said she had four or five winter hats sent her or given her by various artists she knew, some had brought their work to our Open House.

They were nice bright colors and warm, older heads with thinning hair can release a lot of body heat in cold weather, as a balding man i can testify to the value of a wool hat. I wear them almost every day from October to April.

I took my hats back over to the Mansion after lunch and the rest was pure joy. I gave one to DorLisa, an aide, and then to Ruth who appeared near the Great Room, and then to Alice, who was sitting on a bench near the parakeets, and Sylvie, who was reading up on her faith, the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

These residents just loved their hats, so much that I intend to get hold of some more and get them to everybody who wants one. It wasn’t just the warmth they loved, but the colors. When I showed one to Alice, she asked “how did you know I needed one?” Just a hunch i said.

Alice is in her 90’s we joke that she is my girlfriend. We might dance together at the Christmas party if her arthritis is not too bad. I had an enormous amount of fun passing out the hats, I guess I needed to do something like that. The residents often need small things like hats, and those are holes I can fill, with the assistance of the Army Of Good.

The Mansion is like one of those rivers in the Bible, I think. After a death, the waters just close over it. Death is no stranger here, it is marked and noted, and then put aside. It does not dominate life.

Life is enough of a struggle as it is. I felt like  Santa Claus passing out my hats. If feels good to do good. My calling, for now.

A reminder that Christmas is the big annual event at the Mansion, there is a party, a dance, and then on Christmas morning, an exchange of gifts. Your contributions are beginning to arrive,  and they are much appreciated.

The goal is for everyone to have something for them under the tree on Christmas morning. Puzzles, stocking stuffers, illustrated books, colorful soaps or simple bracelets, games, inexpensive necklaces, Christmas paraphernalia, party favors,  wreathes, cards,  inexpensive stuffed animals, animal photos, large type books, holiday hats, etc…The Mansion, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. Thanks again for the flowers for Connie’s service, they are beautiful and they added so much to the service.

I’m putting up more hat photos. They turned things around.

You can write Alice and Sylvie and Ruth and DorLisa c/o The Mansion, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816,

 

The Mansion residents were quiet, somber, reflective at Connie Martell’s Memorial Service. Here, Jean, Madeline, and Joan listen to the eulogy by Rev. Earthowl. They captured the feel of it.

Death is not discussed much in the Mansion, although it is a resident there sometimes, just like people. It is often in the air, an accepted part of life, everyone there has seen a good deal of it. This morning, at Connie Martell’s memorial service, the Rev. Debbie Earthowl was talking about life and fate, and Red became concerned for her, he walked up to her and looked up into her eyes, and she put her hand under his chin, and the two of them just gazed into one another’s eyes for a bit.

It gave me the chills, I will admit, although Red’s intuitiveness doesn’t surprise me any longer. He saw something in Rev. Earthowl that caught his eye and he came up to support her. She seemed very grateful for it, and the two held this pose for a good long time.

I am no prophet, but I might be a deranged mystic, and I never claim to know what it in Red’s head, but this seemed like a beautiful and powerfully spiritual moment to me. I’m glad it lasted awhile. Rev. Earthowl was also.

The Mansion residents have grown used to Red, many of then have had moments like this, but I have never seen Red do this before. The moment came just after the pastor asked people if they had anything to say about Connie.

I’m thinking that Red did.

We got up early this morning – Maria had to take her car in to have the snow tires put on, and we went out into the pasture first. The pasture was flooded with light as Maria said her good morning to the donkeys, and the light in my art lens looked mystical to me. Once in awhile, the sun’s light comes in like a rainbow, I call it the holy glow.

Connie told me that the caregivers at the Mansion were the heroes in her life, she told me they always came through for her, even when she was grumpy and demanding. I saw four of them sitting together on the stairs at the Mansion, and I wanted to share a photo of them, great hears all, doing such hard and demanding work with grace and love.

They never let me down, Connie said, please thank for them for me and let your readers know how good they were to me. These are not all of them, just the day staff, it was great to see them together at her Memorial Service.