My oldest sister made me a doll when I was a little girl. It was made out of cloth with moveable arms and legs. The doll had an embroidered face and hair made from a special kind of yarn called straw yarn. That doll exists only in my memory. “You didn’t take care of it,” Agnes says. “You left it outside in the rain.”
In October, 2019, I visited my sister. Her health was failing. We talked about many things—including that neglected doll of my childhood. “Could I borrow the pattern?” I asked. She told me to go down into the basement and look in the second drawer of the blue dresser. The pattern wasn’t there, but I saw two finished dolls who were waiting to be dressed. The workmanship wass exquisite. Their hairstyles were messy, courtesy of visiting grandchildren.
As I began sheltering from Covid 19—and looking for things to do— my thoughts returned to those two dolls. I called Agnes and offered to fix their hair and make clothes for them. She accepted and both dolls arrived in the mail. “You can keep the one you want,” Agnes said. I got tired of thinking of them as doll one and doll two so I named them. Rosie (in the pink dress) would eventually travel back to Agnes, and Marie (in the green dress) would stay with me.
I used short pieces of pipe cleaner as curlers and I carefully brushed their hair. I began making a doll wardrobe. The patterns for doll clothes that I had didn’t fit those small dolls. I adjusted the pattern, sewed and adjusted and tailored the clothes to fit. I frequently texted pictures to Agnes., showing her the articles of clothing as I finished them. Agnes was bedridden now—unable to do much. But she liked seeing what I had made. Her daughter said, “Thank you for bringing a smile to my mother’s face.” I made dresses, skirts, blouses, pants, a nightgown and a party dress for Rosie and a duplicate set for Marie.
Then one day I got the impression that it was time for Rosie to go home. I took a picture of the twin dolls together for the last time. I placed all of Rosie’s clothes in a small basket with a lid and sent her home via United States Postal Service. Agnes’ daughter said, “She was like a little kid at Christmas looking at the doll and all her clothes.”
Rosie was placed on a table near Agnes so she could see her often. I placed all of Marie’s clothes in a small wooden chest and set her on top of it. I liked looking at her and remembering my sister. It was shortly after Rosie’s return home that Agnes passed away. Rosie was displayed at her Memorial Service.
Having Marie in my home warms my heart. Rosie and Marie’s story reminds me that Covid-19 not only took things away from me, but it brought blessings. I discovered resources in my home and learned to make do with what I already had. I expanded the variety of things I ordered online to include household items and food. The time I formerly spent shopping could now be channeled into other activities: sewing doll clothes, writing, painting, reading, Zoom storytelling and trying out new recipes. I reached out to family and friends and established new ways of connecting. I found many silver linings in a difficult and challenging time.