Day: August 21, 2018

Dear Bob,

I just learned this morning that you died over the weekend in a nursing home in Connecticut. I know you hoped to die at the Mansion, but our laws are rigid, if not always humane.

When I talked to you a week or so, you were in great pain and you said goodbye to me and thanked me for the books I gave you and the subscription to Builders Magazine.

I love my visits with you and Red. You came to the Mansion a year ago with your wife Shirley, and she died soon after, and almost immediately,  you were diagnosed with cancer. We both joked that there seemed to be a lot of that going around.

The staff loved you dearly, you suffered without complaint or lament,  you were alway gracious and grateful.

I’m glad I got to know Shirley, she adored Red, and I’m glad I got to know you and have all of those good talks on the porch and in your room. I’m sorry we never got to go to those car races downstate, you were eager to take me to, but pretty soon, you were in no shape to go.

You were a deeply religious person and you accepted cancer and death and the loss of Shirley as God’s plan for you. I wish I had your faith, I have never believed, as I told you, that there is a plan for me. Life just seems to happen.

When we last talked just a few days ago, you told me you were ready to go and be with Shirley. That is a comforting thought.

Thanks so much for posing for the cover of our book on the Mansion, “Tales Of The Mansion.” You had the best story, you rock.

As you know, I am a hospice volunteer and also a volunteer at the Mansion, and I see a lot of sickness and death. Nobody ever handled pain and sorrow with more grace than you, and  I will certainly miss you.

Red seemed especially comfortable sitting by your bed. I’m glad we got to say goodbye.

At the Mansion and in my hospice work, I’ve seen a lot of sickness and death, and I never saw anyone handle it with more grace and humor. If we do meet again, I hope we can go to that car race together, I would like it.

You were such a good man, and a sweet man.

I came to love you myself, along with the people who lived with you and cared for you. Rest in peace good friend, if you are right about God, you are sitting up in heaven with Shirley planning to build your celestial home.

You never stopped being a builder, and you are the only person I ever know who nearly cried for joy when I brought you a book on the engineering details behind the Panama Canal. If there is a better place, you will be in it.

And what on earth am I supposed to do with six months of “Builder Magazine?”

All the best, your friend Jon

Our pal Tim at the Mansion had his right leg amputated last week (he gave me permission to write about this) and the surgery went well. He expects to be coming back to the Mansion in several weeks, and then return to a rehab facility to get a prosthesis, and hopefully, to be able to walk again.

He drives his motorized wheelchair all over town, he is a writer and now, thanks to the Army Of Good, a photographer and artist. I called Tim this morning at the Sunnyview Rehabilitation Facility in Schenectady, New York (1270 Belmont Avenue, Schenectady, N.Y., N.Y., 12308.

We had a good talk, Tim is feeling better, his leg was very painful and is hopeful about his recovery. He is eager to use his camera and read the big pile of books he has stockpiled. Tim is a sweet soul and a passionate writer.

He is especially eager to get his new leg, his old one was mangled in an automobile accident. He is very eager to come home to the Mansion. I love his attitude, cheerful, open, uncomplaining. He’s a charter member of the Friday night Bingo Game.

I asked him if there is anything he might need, and he thought about it for awhile and said yes, there was, he would love some lifesavers, especially Peppermint or Evergreen. I sent him off a box this morning, feel free to send some more.

Tim said he would love to get your letters and messages, he has plenty of time to read in the hospital. His address is Tim Rice, Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital, 1270 Belmont Avenue, Schenectady, New York, 1270 Belmont Avenue, Schenectady, N.Y., 12308.

Thanks.

I am pretty overwhelmed by the kindness and thoughtfulness of Dr. Jonathan Bradshaw and the staff of the South Arkansas Veterinary Clinic. Dr. Bradshaw knew i might be worried about Bud, he was neutered yesterday (on top of his heartwom treatments).

Dr. Bradshaw said the surgery went well and he sent me this photo of Bud when he was taken outside for a walk this morning.

I am eager to get this guy home to the farm, but i will have to be patient for awhile yet. The first photos I saw of Gus were very different, he was a wreck from being abandoned outdoors and also from his heartworm. He’s not coming until the first week of October.

In this photo, Bud looks like he is ready to get on with life.

I had no idea he was such a handsome fellow. He looks quite fit, Carol Johnson and Dr. Bradshaw have done an amazing job of bringing him back from the dead. When I saw an early photo, I didn’t think he could stand up.

I am also very happy that the two homeless dogs I put up for adoption from the Friends Of Homeless Animals rescue group – Jen and Albert – were both adopted yesterday, pending approval. The Army Of Good is deep and full of love.

There are all kinds of ways to get the right dog, but the Friends Of Homeless Animals/RI is certainly one of them. They specialize in homeless dogs, dogs with heartworms, and desperate dogs. They are the rare rescue group that is actually a pleasure to work with.

They even pick up the phone.

Anyway, thanks, Dr. Bradshaw, for your thoughtfulness, and thanks for the new and fresh perspective on Bud. He is not the same dog I saw in that grainy photo a couple of months ago, great work and thanks.

Sakler Moo graduated junior high school in Albany this June with the highest grade point average in the school. He hopes to go on to college to become an artist or an engineer. He is a gifted artist.

Everyone on the soccer team must be on the honor roll, says Ali.

His favorite thing in America is the soccer  team, he says (so do all the other players). He has been in American for several years and like the other members of the team, he mostly misses the freedom he had in Thailand to move about freely.

He loved hunting squirrels with a slingshot, he said,  you can’t do that here in America, not in the middle of Albany.

Sakler is a gifted artist, he loves to draw. Next week, Ali and I are taking him shopping for clothes for high school. He needs sneakers and pants and a shirt or two. Sachler is quiet and sensitive with an easy and wry smile.

He gives me a hug when he sees me, and I am told he is working on a portrait of me. Fair enough.

I took these portraits because I wanted you to begin to get to know some of these children that you are doing so much to help. You are  transforming their lives, introducing them to America, broaden their horizons and strengthen their sense of community.

Ali is an extraordinary father, mentor, friend to these children, he is guiding them and supporting them every day. They revere him.

As I look for activities and “adventures” for them, I look for ways to build their confidence and community, to show them more of America than they have seen, and to come to understand just how welcome they are here to so many Americans.

Thanks for your support. We have made an enormous difference in their lives.If you wish to contribute to this work, you can do so by donating to the Gus Fund, c/o Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816 or via Paypal, [email protected].

I will continue this portrait and writing series so you can see the people whose lives you are supporting so wonderfully.

Jorsein has been in America for four years. His favorite thing is the soccer team.

He is an honor student in his middle school, and is shy. Like the other players, he misses the freedom he had to walk around his neighborhood, play soccer barefoot and go where he pleased.

He very much loves the trips the soccer team is now undertaking, thanks to the Army Of Good. For the first four years of his life here, he did not once get to go outside Albany except for a soccer game or two.

He is happy to see more of America and to learn about it. His family now is the soccer team, he lost much of his family  back home.

Thanks for helping Jorsein to see the world and learn about America. Like the other players, he has increasingly been taunted by American students in the school, who make fund of his hand-me-down clothes and even suggest he doesn’t belong here.

I told him there are many people who believe that he does. If you wish to help Jorsei, you can contribute to the Gus Fund, c/o Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected].