This is the story of a woman in India, of Jean at the Mansion, and a pair of Red Slippers from Bangalore.
About two months ago, I got an e-mail message from India. A reader of the blog was visiting Bangalore, I think she was either a British traveler or native-born Indian, she wouldn’t say. She loved my writing about the Mansion, and was following it closely. She came across a crafts man in Bangalore who made the most beautiful slippers, she said.
She asked if it was appropriate to order a pair and ship them to me.
Perhaps, she suggested, I could find someone at the Mansion who needed a pair.
I wrote back saying i wasn’t sure if anyone needed a pair of slippers like that, I said regulations required that slippers have bottoms, but I would try to find out.
I would make sure they got on some worthy feet somewhere – a Mansion resident or a refugee mother or daughter, I know a lot of people now who would love slippers like that, and who need slippers.
She never wrote back to suggest a size or tell me anything more, and over the weeks I just forgot about the slippers, and of course, I lost the e-mail. I get too many to keep track of sometimes. It was months ago, I just assumed that was the end of it.
This week, the slippers arrived with a short note thanking me for my work, and nothing more. The return address was a shop in India.
Today I took them over to the Mansion, and took them out of their box, and asked Hollyanne in the office if she knew anyone in residence who might want or need a size 6 – they were small – pair of slippers custom designed and made in India.
“Oh,” said Hollyanne without skipping a beat, “Jean wears a size six, she really needs a pair of slippers right now and she would love those.” Surprised, I asked if she knew all of the shoe sizes of the residents, I asked? Hollyanne laughed. Well, yes, she said. The Mansion is like that.
A few minutes later we were all in Jean’s room and she was in her new slippers and beaming. She just loved them, and she got up – slowly – and threw her arms around me and gave me a big kiss on the cheek. I blushed, i think, or so I was told. I really have trouble with compliments and thank yous.
Jean really did love them, she loved the colors and the feeling and the fit. At Friday’s Bingo game, Jean was just recovering from a fall and was a little fuzzy. She was very sharp today, the slippers really lifted her up. Perhaps, an aide suggested, they had magical powers and could help her fly.
Oh my, said Jean. She is usually found vacuuming the Mansion carpets every afternoon, even though they had just been vacuumed. She loves housework.
I call Jean my “girlfriend” and she calls me “Santa Claus.” We get a kick out of each other, and I very fondly remember dancing with her on the Steamboat ride around Lake George last summer. She is a deep dog lover and a great pal of Red’s. She has a dog bed and a stuffed dog inside to remind her of the dogs she left behind in her former life.
It breaks the heart to hear how much the Mansion residents miss their dogs and cats. They could use them.
Jean has had a rough month health wise, I can’t really talk about that, but I can report that she fell down and hurt her head the other day and had to go to the hospital by ambulance. She hates doing that, it was, she said, “such a fuss.”
She said she had never had a pair of slippers like that, and thanked me again and again.
The odd thing is that I don’t recall the name of that woman in India, I’m not sure I ever knew it. A lot of people offer to send things to the residents, sometimes they ship them directly, usually they ship them to me, especially if they are unusual or different, like the slippers. Sometimes I never hear from them again.
I doubt I ever will know this samaritan’s name, she didn’t seem me to want to know who she was, she doesn’t care for thanks or acknowledgements. I want to thank you, whoever you are, if you are out there. You brought great pleasure to Jean and her feet. She really needed to get those slippers this week, somehow you knew there was a need.
And thanks Hollyanne, they are lucky to have you there.
I love the story of the Red Slippers, it is so good to be reminded of how many wonderful human beings are out there, we are making our own news. If you wish, you can write Jean c/o The Mansion, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.
if you wish to support my Mansion work, you can send a contribution to The Gus Fund, c/o Jon Katz P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816 or donate via Paypal, [email protected]. Thanks much.
An angel came to me at the Mansion and asked if it were possible for me to get a “realistic doll” for someone at the Mansion who was struggling and would love to have one. I know her well, she really does need a realistic doll. She needs one badly, I was told. I bought her this one, I know how important they can be. It cost $200, plus diapers.