Goodbye

I would like to publicly say goodbye to my former colleague, great friend & fellow book fiend Joan Claussen. As Sean, Carmen, and the rest of these skilled people can tell you, Joan’s smile, always being jolly yet her experience & compassion is what made the Special Care Unit at Whitman Convalescent Center such a beneficial environment for not only our Alzheimer residents but also their families and friends.

Here I have to point out a person who was one of the kindest and most understanding of all and that was Dale Stover. He and his wife Alice would visit Dale’s dad, who was in the

“Unit” nearly every day & buy him whatever he needed. I have no doubt they are in Paradise.

Back to Joan, when I first entered her first Main Street Books, I inhaled the wonderful smell of those old books and saw the smile on her face. I met Gravy, had a short meeting with the cats in the back of the store and everything was great. Even the 2nd store was great for several years but as it always happens, the passage of time as we get older can bring bad things and they certainly did to Joan. Her family would know better but I personally feel there were four reasons that took Joan from us. First was the tragic but necessary death of her 17 year pal Gravy. From then on you could almost feel the gloom in the store and she told me the store was now work, not fun. Every day she was open I took Rocco in so she could see him, give him treats and smile, of course, that was the whole idea of bringing him in. The other factors included her fairly secret medical condition, the continual rising of her rent that caused her to close her beloved store and the death of her hero, “Sir Joseph” Henderson as she called him.

Well Joan you and Gravy are now in Heaven for Eternity, sitting in that big old rocking chair and reading away. If someday Rocco and I can join you, I’ll bring the treats.

Denny McDonald

The Boss (as she always called me)

Colfax