On Fridays, Maria and I go over to the Mansion every week to call the Bingo Game. Every game is different, last week the residents were all up joking and teasing me and laughing and singing. Tonight, perhaps because of the gloomy weather, everyone was a bit flat and down.

Next week, we’ll get a sense of whether Joan can return to the Mansion, Mansion staffers will go to the nursing home to evaluate her and see how much help she will need. She is missed.

Fridays are barter night for me at the Mansion I bring things and take orders for things. It was a busy night.

I brought Sylvie some writing paper, she wants to write a note to her doctor about the soreness in her back. (Sylvie is a passionate letter writer, she loves getting letters,  she always tries to answer them,  you can write her c/o Sylvie, The Mansion, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

I also brought a comfort doll for Ellen, two books for Wayne, one for Matt, pens for the Mansion aides.

At some point during every Bingo game, an aide will come and hand me a slip of paper. It is a weekly list of the things they have noticed the residents need and either  aren’t able to get or don’t have the money to buy. Some of the residents get visitors, some never do.

Some of the residents have some money in their Mansion account, others have nothing.

When the seasons change, as they are now, that’s when the clothing needs of the residents seem at their sharpest. In addition to the list, the residents will often approach me directly now.

But every Friday, some of the aides meet and compare notes, and there is always a “Jon Katz” not on a post-it for me.

My list for this week is long. A flannel nightgown (Amazon), a women’s flannel Robe (Thrift Store), another comfort doll for Helen (Amazon), six pairs of women’s underwear (Amazon), for pairs of men’s underwear,  two large print “Medical Drama’ books, a large-sized desk calendar for a resident who is visually impaired, also two pairs of tights, seven more pairs of compression socks, five pairs of white tube socks for men,  two pairs of women’s tights.

The residents and the aides rarely ask for anything expensive.

I’ll have all these things by the next week. I had to decline one resident’s  request for a comfort doll, the aides and I agreed she didn’t really want one, she just wanted to have something the others had. I asked the aides, and we all agreed: I told her it wasn’t a good time for her to have a comfort doll. It wasn’t, they said, something she would ever pay attention to.

I’m a whiz now when it comes to  online or Thrift Store shopping, especially for older women. There are two thrift shops I know of that will have a good women’s flannel robe.

I think it’s important to buy the most personal garments new. I think I owe them that.

I don’t buy personal clothing like underwear or socks or nightgowns at Thrift Shops. The residents have a lot of pride and dignity about what they wear, they never see themselves as poor, even if they are. I try to be sensitive to that.

On Tuesday, we’re setting up the Karaoke Machine. Five of the residents have signed up.