‘My home is within me’

Lucia has always been a porch sitter. She used to sit on the front porch at 145 Via del Sol watching the cars approach and taking bets on whether they’d turn left or right. (If they’d gone straight, they would have ended up in the front yard.) She liked to sit out there and read her paper as she sipped a cup — or a few cups — of coffee.

Now she has discovered the “porch” at the Masonic Home and she makes a point of sitting there whenever she can. It’s a screened-in deck off of the solarium that also doubles as a sort of mini-greenhouse for flowering plants. She loves just relaxing there with a magazine and a cuppa joe.

Yesterday, we sat there for a long time and she had a lot to say about feeling at home and what that involves.

“Sometimes I get an urgent feeling like I’ve just got to go home,” she said.

“I know what you mean,” I said. “But tell me, when you think about going home, which home are you thinking about?”

“I just feel like I have to get home and check on things,” she answered.

“I think I know that that is,” I said. “Your whole life you’ve had to take care of everybody and everything, so sometimes it’s hard for you to just relax and believe that other people are taking care of it.”

“That’s right,” she said.

“Do you feel at home here?” I asked her.

“Oh yes,” she said. “This is a wonderful home.”

Then she paused for just a second and said emphatically:

“I take my home with me wherever I go.
My home is within me.”

Who needs Buddhist lamas when you have Lucia?

Lucia’s home is for the birds.

This is the drive up to Lucia’s new digs at the Masonic Home in Union City (the last one is the view of the gate as you leave). It’s the longest, windiest, most scenic driveway she’s ever had, to be sure. As you can see, it’s groomed like a lush resort. You have to drive really slow because peacocks and wild turkeys have the right of way — and they know it.

There are birds inside, too. In fact, Lucia’s favorite hangout is the solarium at the end of her hallway, where three very fortunate little tweeters (I think they’re finches, but I’m not sure) live in a custom-made, glassed-in aviary. They play and sing all day long. We often enjoy lunch at one of the dining tables right beside them. Sometimes we just relax on the sofa and read. Whatever we do, it’s Lucia’s domain and she loves it.

She told me repeatedly on Monday how much she likes living there.

This is a wonderful place. So much space everywhere. The men who built it really knew what they were doing.

The people there already call her Grandma, at her insistence, and treat her with love and kindness all the time. I’m basking in an attitude of gratitude.