everyoneelsebutatelittle,lostweight,anddidn’tseem
tolikehavingthecompany.Sheavoidedorganizedgroup
activities, even the ones she might have enjoyed—a
sewingcircleliketheoneshe’dhadatherchurch,abook
group, gym and fitness classes, trips to the Kennedy
Center.Thecommunityofferedopportunitiestoorganize
activities of yourown if you didn’tlike what wason
offer. But she stuck to herself. We thought she was
depressed.JimandNantookhertoseeadoctor,whoput
heronmedication.Itdidn’thelp.Somewherealongthe
seven-miledrivebetweenthehouse she’dgivenupon
Greencastle Street and Longwood House, her life
fundamentally changed in ways she did not want but
could do nothing about.
THEIDEAOFbeingunhappyinaplaceascomfortableas
LongwoodHousewouldhaveseemedlaughableatone
time. In 1913, Mabel Nassau, a Columbia University
graduatestudent,conductedaneighborhoodstudyofthe
living conditions of one hundred elderly people in
Greenwich Village—sixty-five women and thirty-five
men.InthiserabeforepensionsandSocialSecurity,all
were poor. Only twenty-seven were able to support
themselves—living off savings, taking in lodgers, or
doingoddjobslikesellingnewspapers,cleaninghomes,
mendingumbrellas. Mostwere too illor debilitatedto
work.
Onewoman,forinstance,whomNassaucalledMrs.C.,
wasasixty-two-year-oldwidowwho’dmadejustenough
asadomesticservanttoaffordasmallbackroomwithan
oilstoveinaroominghouse.Illnesshadrecentlyended
herwork,however,andshenowhadseverelegswelling