Mary Kellogg was socked and delighted to receive your letters, she said they meant a great deal to her and she read every one of them. She intended to write back to each person but her daughter pointed out there were far too many for her to respond to. She’ll probably try again.

She wanted me to thank you for sending them, they kept her busy and cheered her up. She couldn’t figure out where they came from at first, but then she saw my name mentioned in some and she figured it out. “Jon must have mentioned it on his blog,” she said, laughing with her daughter Nancy.

A great mood lifter.

Mary tried to show us the huge pile of letters, but Nancy said she brought them home – she was running out of space on her dresser in the hospital room, Mary can go through them carefully when she returns to her farm, which she is very anxious to do.

Mary is recovering well from her fall two weeks ago, her physical therapist took her outside the rehab center  for a long walk, and Mary handled it well. She said her hip is just a little sore. She was alert, smiling, and joking about having her hearings aids out, she can’t hear much from one side.

It looks as if Mary is going to another adult care facility next week, the doctors feel she needs a little more time to get the leg stronger before she goes home. She might be there a week or two. She is just learning to stand up on her own again.

Since she’s leaving the Washington County Rehab Center in a few days, it doesn’t make much sense to send her more letters. If she will be in  her new transitional center for long, I’ll provide that address. The letters greatly boosted her morale, and she showed me some of the more memorable ones. So many of you were very kind to do that.

There are a lot of loving people out there, and thanks. Mary is special to us, she is working on the final poems for her next book, as yet untitled, we hope she will be reading from it at our October Open House. I told her falling down and breaking her hip is no excuse.