Fellowship Point: a Novel by Alice Elliott Dark

Author:Alice Elliott Dark
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scribner / Marysue Rucci Books
Published: 2022-07-05T00:00:00+00:00

PART FOUR Continuing Revelation

CHAPTER 16 Maud, Philadelphia, November 2001

FRIENDS HOSPITAL, IN NORTH PHILADELPHIA, was founded on the impetus of Thomas Scattergood in 1813 under the name the Asylum for the Relief of Persons Deprived of the Use of Their Reason. The Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends had embarked on the project as an alternative to the punitive treatment of mental illness in other hospitals. The Quakers interpreted such disturbances differently, based on the belief that every person was born with an Inner Light which shone with integrity. In the mentally ill, that light flickered, but the mind might heal itself in an environment of rest, good food, fresh air, and general dedication to health. The Meeting bought a fifty-two-acre farm in the west of the city for $7,000 and set out to create a place where people could get better naturally.

The hospital implemented a series of firsts. In the 1830s, they initiated a form of pet therapy. Patients could visit an enclosure for small animals and pet and feed them. The hospital also built a greenhouse, hired women doctors, offered hydrotherapy, and, more recently, opened a long-term care building and a drug rehab program. The philosophy matched Maud’s own intuitive ideas about how to help Heidi—it made sense to think that her Inner Light had dimmed. Maud spoke to the doctors at both hospitals and learned that a move could be made without much trouble. Moses agreed easily as well. As long as all he had to do was pay the bills, he didn’t really care where his former wife was. In September, Maud took Heidi down and got her settled. Maud felt positive about having her there, though it was more difficult to visit. But she was able to dedicate herself more fully to both Clemmie and to her job, and David gave her a raise and a promise of promotion. She was busy, too much so to examine her degree of happiness, but she got extra satisfaction from her continued correspondence with Agnes Lee. About six weeks after returning from Maine, when her life was relatively calm again, she reread the Agnes When manuscript and appreciated and understood it quite differently. That didn’t change her goal of convincing Agnes to expand and divulge. The current manuscript wouldn’t do what the book should. But she now understood what Agnes had done, and she would keep the version as she kept the tiny old gloves she sought out in thrift stores. Perfect things that didn’t cover enough these days.

Maud had made a day trip to the hospital four times now, taking the train to Thirtieth Street Station and a half-hour cab ride to North Philadelphia. Beyond the first time, when Heidi had been terrified of ending up in a strange place, Maud had never dreaded going there. The stately buildings were fair representations of the high-mindedness within their walls—albeit some of the walls could use an upgrade. On the day before Thanksgiving Maud signed in and made her way up in an elevator and down several corridors to Heidi’s room.

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