Joan, standing in front of the fan, which she loves to do.

Yesterday, I had one of my most powerful and exciting experiences at the Mansion, a small miracle, it seemed to me.

As some of you know, I’ve begun a one-on-one reading program at the Mansion designed to revive memory and strengthen voice, it’s called reading2connect, and it was designed by two researchers – Susan Ostrowski and Dr. Peter Dixon – who believe their books can help elderly people with memory loss read again and reclaim some of their memory.

I have been working closely with the very creative and whimsical Joan at the Mansion – she has severe memory loss – to write poems, paint and seek out her memories. Researchers believe memory is never lost, it is just not always possible for the brain to find it.

The books are not presented as miracle cures, but they produced remarkable and very poignant results with Joan in just one day. “We create books,” say the publishers, “for seniors with memory challenges. Our  books are highly readable, yet retain the integrity of adult literature.”

They speak the truth, I think.

Joan is a sweet and loving spirit, but most days, she can’t sustain a conversation for more than a few seconds. She always greets me with a hug and a kiss on the cheek and thanks me for coming to see her.

She knows me, yet does not know who I am or what my name is. She loves dogs, but cannot remember Red’s name or whose dog he is. Sometimes she asks me me if I have come to the Mansion to sell him. Sometimes, she stares out and the snow and tells me the flowers of Spring that she is seeing.

She does not, to my knowledge, know anyone’s name at the Mansion, she is always in motion, moving from one place to another, she believes she is going home every morning, and then forgets about home. Her room is bare, because she packs everything she owns each night, to prepare to go home.

She is one of the warmest and most loving people I know. Yesterday, I sat down with Joan and one of the reading2connect workshop activities books – the “Read-Aloud Word Games.” I start a well-known phrase and the listener finishes it, as “Practice Makes ____” or “Two Wrongs Don’t Make A ____.”

Joan can rarely finish any sentence, but she was eager to sit with me and work with the book, and she quickly grasped the idea and was eager to try reading with me. She shocked me by getting all but two of the workshop answers right, and when we went back over the book again, she got them all right. I could see her confidence rise, and I could also see that her memory was very much there, she just had trouble accessing it.

The structure of the book and the interaction with me gave her a structure she could work with and she was proud and delighted that she recalled so many answers. I messed up more than she did.

I think the video shows Joan finding her memory, and also her pride and delight at succeeding. It is a very painful thing to lose memory, and a miracle when any of it is recovered. I apologize for my sunglasses in the video, I had laser eye surgery in the a.m. and couldn’t see without them.

I encouraged her throughout, occasionally touching her arm. I deliberately failed to answer some questions, so she would feel equal to me, sometimes superior by saving the day. If she struggled, I stepped in quickly to offer a clue or even an answer, I did not want her feeling as if she failed, it wasn’t a school test. I wanted her to succeed right away, and she did.

 

I ordered several additional activity books last night from reading2connect and I’ll return to the Mansion this afternoon. I had some similar success with Diane, who got most of the answers right also but was distracted by Red.

I should be careful to say that no one, least of all me, is suggesting memory loss can be miraculously recovered, and the books do not promise that. But I have long believed it is possible to revive  memory and exercise it in ways can bring the elderly back into reading and access more of their memory.

As I understand it, that is the premise and purpose of these books.

Memories are all we are, in some  ways, and the loss of memory is the eradication of the soul, humiliating and profoundly discouraging. Joan was as happy and focused after our work as I have ever seen her, she was pleased with herself and proud, rather than frustrated and lost.

It feels like reaching into burnish the soul, and bring it into the light a bit. You can see the video and watch the progress Joan and I made yesterday, the first time we worked together to try to restore her reading. This afternoon, I’m going to ask  her to read from the “Birds” book, she has not been able to read for some time.

I am excited beyond words by this work – several other residents have asked to sign up –  and plan to order even more books from reading2connect. I will share this work with you. So far, the books have cost about $200.

If you wish to write Joan, me and members of the staff will read them to her. I also hope to bring this program to Bill, who has been struggling to read again after his stroke, and Diane and Sylvie.

If you wish to write to any of the Mansion residents, you can send your letters and photos and messages c/o The Mansion, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

The names of the residents who wish to receive messages are Ruth, Kenneth, Wayne, Brenda, Guerda, Art, Debbie, Tim, Dorothy, Peggie, Barbara, Alanna, Bob, Helen, John K., Bill, Allan, Joan, Madeline, Jean, Alice, Diane, Jane, Sylvie, Gerry, Mary, Ellen, Jean, Winnie.

Thanks for your support.  If you wish to contribute to the Mansion work, you can send a donation to The Mansion Fund, c/o Jon Katz, 205 State Route 22, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected]

This feels quite wonderful to me, I’m very excited about it.