Audrey Mae Spencer

Audrey: I got 6 quarters playing Bingo. We got a beautiful yard here (Alpine Nursing Home) There goes Margie and Jean. Jean is waving! Oh, there are yellow birds going after the little tiny seeds they love. I look out my window and watch the shed and the garbage truck. The handyman dumps the trash into the bin and then the truck comes and gets it. The handyman is called Charles or Paul. I can’t remember which but I call him Sobersides because he never smiles. He is here all the time and never smiles, so I knighted him as Sir Sobersides. I can’t find any fault with anybody here. There is delicious food. We had string beans. I’m not to crazy about them, but I eat most everything. The meals are very good here.

Audrey: Everything is going fine! Everything is good here. It is very pleasant. The sun is shinning. Crystal comes most always and Spencer too. Dede generally brings Julie. I’ve seem them all. I’m reading To Kill a Mockingbird that you sent me. The books are piled up on each other.

Audrey: Oh, the birds out there. There are little yellow birds, crows and once in a while cardinals. The stocking feeder is hanging right outside my window. Oh, there goes a yellow bird, so cute. He is sitting on the stocking.

Audrey: It is very pleasant here. I’m not alone at all. I lay down an awful lot. I feel better lying down. Vivian’s son comes every Sunday and takes her out. She returns around 5 or 6 PM. Everything is fine. I’m in the biggest, best room. I read books. Oh, my voice is cracking. I forgot I’m not supposed to talk.

(Heather: Let’s say “good-bye” then and I’ll call next Saturday right after your breakfast.)

Audrey: Everything is going good. I couldn’t ask for a better day. It is nice and sunny. I went riding around last Sunday. I enjoy my life. Couldn’t be better.

Douglas and Spencer MacDonald

Audrey: From age 12 to 14 years. He had tap dancing lessons from a dance instructor in Pawtucket. He could do the Russian, a dance where he would kick out his feet, balance on one foot while kicking out on another, for 20 minutes at a time.

(Heather: That is why Spen is such a good dancer now.)

Audrey: I feel so good all the time. I have no bad spell. My handwriting is terrible. I’m no good at writing anymore. I enjoy life as best I can. Doug is here! Yes, I’m busy as I can be. I’m reading; the more I read, the better I get. I love these bulletin boards. I think they are awfully cute. All of the kids’ pictures are there and it is full. I guess I need another bulletin board. The bookcase is nice. However, I need a larger one as I have too many books.

Hope is represented by the perched bird sitting as high as it can get on a person.

“The little bird of hope sings on in the hearts and souls of those with CMT knowing that the cure will soon be captured and domesticated.” I created that logo design when I was around sixty years old.

I’m so glad that you and Doug are doing so much to try and promote all this.

Audrey: I haven’t ever been back, only in my dreams. Now, I never remember from one day to the next. Time is awfully short. Everything happens to you and I no longer have any sense of timing. I never remember after the day. But I don’t worry. Time doesn’t mean anything anymore. It is all happening right now. Time means nothing. Everything is now. “Now” is your world.

Everybody praises me and says I am beautiful now and I always thought I was ugly, with a long face. Here at Alpine, I am never alone, all the residents are so sociable and I have lots of fun. Out in the dining room, men and women sit together. I stand up a lot and get in my chair, which sits by my bed. I ride around everywhere. I push myself with my arms or feet. An old gentleman pushes me everywhere. I have all kinds of friends. Ladies, we talk and get together and do things in workshops, stuffing pillows, making pretty pictures, trays. We are having a great time.

Audrey: It rolls along all by itself. If you breath hard, it rolls by itself. It is so light.

(Explanation:  The companion chair is used instead of a wheel chair.  The companion chair has four small wheels and not the traditional two large wheels. Therefore, you need a companion to push you.  The companion chair is very light weight and folds up easily to put in a car.)