Phoning A Friend
Yvonne was referred to St. George’s Society and the Phone Pal program through a former colleague at the children’s theater she used to run. Thinking this was a perfect opportunity to give back amidst the chaos of the pandemic, she quickly signed up to volunteer.
Upon her initial contact with her phone pal, she was unsure as to what they would talk about. She tried a variety of topics—flowers, travel destinations, TV shows—NCIS was a mutual favorite. While their first calls were pleasant, she felt that she had not quite found that one key to unlock a true connection. She jokes, “He was so kind, but rather shy. I got the sense early on that he was tolerating me more than anything else.”
Like everyone living through quarantine, Yvonne was trying to make the best of an unprecedented and difficult situation. She explains, “I was home and just trying to stay busy and make the time productive.”
One particular day, she decided to try her hand at baking rosemary bread. Most of her batches turned out relatively successful, but one particular batch came out puzzlingly flat. This also happened to be her regular check-in day with her phone pal. On a whim, she mentioned her predicament to her pal, and asked if he had any experience with baking. He almost immediately burst out into laughter, revealing that he had been a pastry chef for over 15 years before retiring. After a few questions, he was able to identify what had gone wrong. Turns out if the water’s too warm, you kill the yeast which results in flat bread.
From then on, their calls have mini cooking lessons filled with advice on how to make fruit tarts, confections and other yummy treats including her pal’s favorite cookie—chocolate chip. “He really enjoys advising me. I’m the poor woman that calls him with my baking problems, and he politely helps me out,” she comments. Their next project is Swiss bread.
“It’s been such a wonderful experience. I feel like he’s really been the one helping me rather than the other way around.”