頌歌
卡羅爾坐在威爾第公園放鬆，享受夏日的陽光。 我打了招呼並坐在她旁邊（在長凳的另一端）。我告訴她我已經接種了疫苗並問她是否也接種了。 她說：“我當然接種過疫苗。我是一名退休的精神科醫生。 我相信科學，即使有線電視新聞上有一半的白癡不相信。”
卡羅爾今年 89 歲，在紐約市出生和長大。 我問退休。 她說她退休的唯一原因是她的關節炎很嚴重，影響了她作為藝術家的工作能力。 我說，藝術家？ 我以為你說你是心理醫生？ 她說她是，而且她也是一名藝術家。 她拒絕透露她是一個什麼樣的藝術家，她做了什麼工作。 她曾在西奈山醫院擔任老年精神科醫生多年。 她曾在希爾賽德醫院接受過培訓，現在被稱為扎克希爾賽德 在紐約皇后區。 我向她提到，我也在 1970 年在山坡醫院的男孩青少年館接受了培訓。她在我之前就在那裡。
She had been at Hillside before me. I asked her if she knew of the CAPE mental health program in Little Neck, Queens, New York City? She did know of it but did not recognize my wife's name (Jane Bardavid) who had been the director of the program for 32 years.
Carol said she loved being an artist. It was not only a passion for her but helped her deal with the craziness of working with difficult patients. When her husband died, she left her profession and focused on her art. However, being widowed and having no children, she was lonely and unhappy living, in Manhattan. She does not like living here. It is dirty and noisy. She feels that most of the people are rude and she feels lonely and ignored as she shops and walks the sidewalks. She feels that most people look past her as if she does not exist. She wishes she could get back to her art (whatever that may be.) Then she believes she would feel that she has purpose and meaning in this world.
卡羅爾在談論紐約市和州政治時表現得最為活躍，尤其是她非常不喜歡的市長德布拉西奧。 但是，她沒有任何動機要搬出這座城市。 她在這裡有朋友，擔心另一個場所會讓她感到比現在更加孤立。 當我問她這座城市是否有什麼她喜歡的地方時，她說大多數東西都很容易購物。 她喜歡林肯中心的文化，這當然已經關閉了一年半多。
我問我是否可以給她拍幾張照片，她同意了。 我認為拍攝人的眼睛時聚焦於他們的眼睛很重要。 然而，她拒絕摘下太陽鏡。
卡羅爾說，如果天氣允許，她確實每天都出去。 然而，即使這座城市熙熙攘攘的多樣性及其與藝術世界的便捷聯繫似乎也無助於給她的生活帶來積極的影響。 Carol 決定在一個她覺得不適合她的城市裡變老。