The night was sultry, filled with the scent of roses that climbed over the fence and the roof.  We sat on the porch, cold glasses of iced tea in our hands and wove the stories of our last year into one.  Two sisters finally together.

The pandemic defined the year and yet it didn’t.  While I am more of a homebody than my sister, both of us spent a lot of time at home.  Not going anywhere was a theme, a background directive that both closed and opened doors.

My sister Joan made the most of the time.

This sister of mine spent hours online in Zoom rooms with her garden club members, using technology to demonstrate whatever garden club people do.  As she pointed out, she was among the youngest in the club and she is in her mid-70s.  It was easier for a lot of the gals to meet online … particularly if you had a computer.

The crafter par excellence, she closeted herself in her “studio” which is a small room filled with really expensive sewing machines, threads, fabric and other findings to make masks for just about everyone in Carmel who had a face, bibs for the babies being baptized at her church and quilts, coverlets, tote bags, table runners, etc. for her wide army of friends and acquaintances and garden club members.

She, being saintlier than I, never missed mass.  She went every week, masked and socially distant.  St. James the Apostle is a big church.  There were no reservations required.

Me? I watched mass on Sundays on my computer. Sometimes it was my own parish streaming its Sunday mass, other times, parishes as far away as Texas.  It’s not that I am lax about my faith, it’s just here you had to sign up ahead of time to go to mass.  I was never fast enough to score a seat among the 50 that were allowed in church at the same time.

My volunteer spot at St. Joe’s was officially closed down for a year and, well, you can’t volunteer in the emergency department by Zoom.  The tiny staff in the volunteer department kept us apprised of how they were coping and sent us cute reminders of how much we meant to them. I should have sent something back telling them how much they meant to me.

I thought…well, I will finally have time to do a good clean-out of the assorted flotsam and jetsam that we’ve accumulated over 50 years.  Sure – maybe I got rid of one flotsam and four jetsam.  The closets and drawers are still overstuffed, and don’t even ask about the basement where, I swear, unknown individuals are leaving assorted junk.

In the beginning, I even dragged out my sewing machine and laboriously made … hold your breath….16 masks.  I kept two, one for me and one for the spouse and gave the rest to a nurse who worked at Upstate.  I could have made more if I was more adept at making masks without elastic.  I am not that adept.

I thought, “I’ll learn another language!” I signed up for Babble.  I have no clue where I stashed the access on my computer, so, right now, I can only say good morning in Italian. But I did watch a lot of Il Volo concerts.  I can now sing “Grand Amore” and “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu” – Does that count?

Then there was the idea that I could, like my younger sister, craft up a storm.  I made 12 crocheted bookmarks and a few jars of jam.

I did watch a lot of TV.  In my defense, sometimes I dusted the family room while I watched my favorites:  Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, Call the Midwife, ER, St. Elsewhere, Law and Order, Rachel Maddow and cooking shows.   I have developed a crush on Jacques Pepin.

An outing for me was a trip to Nojaim’s and some banter with Anna.  OK, I did go to the doctors a few times … that was another “treat.” I read some books.

I really lived the life of the introvert that I am.

But now, vaccinated, I am free to be out again and I am cautiously enjoying my small forays into the outside world.

I went to Costcos and was amazed at the number of people there.  I’ve been to three restaurants and enjoyed meals at a table with others in the room.  And the library…oh, yes. Lots more books.  I’ve emailed a friend about sampling the fare at a new restaurant in Syracuse.  There are shows to see at the Merry Go Round and at Famous Artists.   I actually bought tickets.

I am like a cautiously-unfolding flower or is it a weed?

Staying home has yielded some unexpected results in the realm of healthy living …other than the hip and back thing.  I, who usually floats from one cold to another, had one cold during our “isolation.” My sister?  Well, she was equally healthy during the confinement.

Last week my sister and her garden club ladies finally reassembled in person to sample the horticultural ecstasy of the Orange County arboretum.  While happily strolling the pathways with her posse, one of the gray-haired gals lost her footing and fell on to my sister. Voila!  A broken femur.  Yup … amidst the Foxgloves and delphiniums, Joan earned an ambulance ride and trauma surgery in Middletown, N.Y.  More inside time now for her as she recovers.  (Our conversation on the porch was on a Messenger photo call.  I showed her pictures of my roses.) And we can now compare femur fractures…pitiful!

Is there some kind of moral here.