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Laughter helps. David Fitzsimmons (Star cartoonist and illustrator of my latest book, “A Traveler’s Guide to Geriatrica�) greeted my birthday thusly: “The term nonagenarian may be accurate but it sounds too much like ‘non-fattening’ or ‘non-violent’ a form of subtraction rather than glorious addition. I prefer my invention ‘Sapigenarian’ derived from Sapientiae, Latin for wisdom.� He implies I am wise when often I cannot remember the name of a person or the movie we streamed last night. Thanks, Fitz!

Our adventure in pandemic land started in March of 2020. Our planned move to independent living at Hacienda at the Canyon could not be carried out. We socially distanced and did not leave the house except to take a morning walk and visit one of our bunch of doctors. No one unvaccinated was allowed inside. Food was delivered. We read, kept up with our loved ones and friends by phone and email, and were very grateful to have each other.

But there were no live concerts, theater, movies, dinners out with friends, Humanities seminars classes at the Poetry Center, travel, or shopping. This opened up a huge amount of time. In the beginning we relished quiet time at home together. The pile of unread magazines dwindled. I had time to purge files and tidy up cabinets.

To our surprise the days went by quickly. Living in the pandemic has been very challenging but there was, curiously, a few positives. My beloved partner said, “My job is to take care of you and I love my job.� This became very important when I had a fall and was laid up for a while. No bones broken but I suffered a concussion and vertigo. Went from hospital to rehab to physical therapy to using a walker to walking alone. Except for the fear of falling, I am pretty much back to my old self.

I am very anxious to see and hug my family. We talk and email daily so I can keep up with their lives. My daughter recently made a cross-country move and enrolled in a virtual master’s degree in bioethics at the same time. My youngest grandchild has turned 9. He had virtual schooling last year but has just returned to real school with post-vaccinated personnel and masks for all. I anxiously await a safe COVID vaccination for him.

Person-to-person connectors can keep us in touch with family and friends but no telephone call, email, or Zoom session ever equaled being with and hugging a real person. It was like, but much worse than, the difference between playing a CD and attending a real concert. We adjusted to the new reality but I had quite a few Kleenex days.

When the incidence of the virus infection was going down not up, we rejoiced. The pandemic was easing! Safely masked, we ventured out to a restaurant meal for a birthday celebration. We also attended a movie showing of a Met OperaHD. We were ecstatic. Life as we knew it was coming back.

Alas, the Delta variant hit and hit hard. This was a body blow because I was achingly looking forward to reconnection with family and friends. But, heck, we did it before and we can do it again, as the song written after Pearl Harbor reminded us.

The new variant is scary. It moved fast and furiously. Our combined ages total 189 years so it was prudent to go back to strict social distancing and masking. Are we back where we started? Yes, except we are vaccinated. It is irritating and scary to think of the too high cohort of anti-vaxxers who are delaying the end of the pandemic.

Ann Patchett, one of my favorite authors, also had a fall. “The pandemic has taught me that my plans are not important, that my plans have no importance, that everything can be canceled, that I am lucky to have a house to live and a person I love to live with.� True, timely words.

Recently I became weary of thinking so much about myself, my infirmities, and the pandemic. After some soul-searching I found a solution. I should start think about what else is important to me besides avoiding the damn virus.

Helping democracy work again and saving the planet before it is too late topped my list. It wasn’t hard to think about the many big tasks ahead in both areas. I am too old to march and too deaf to make phone calls. But I can still can keep myself informed, pepper people and organizations with email and letters, and speak up politely when a friend argues against my point of view.

I learned that when despair hits, it helps to counter it by dealing with other problems than your own. It works for me as we await the day when we can get back to normal. If conquering the pandemic means a vaccination every year it is a tiny price to pay for avoiding such a dreadful disease.