There were technical issues, an amplifier that didn’t amplify, a music director forced to yell across a football field without a microphone, wind that picked up and sent students’ music sheets flying.

The first band concert to be played at the Sullivan West High School in more than a year was held outside on the football field, pitting kids and their director against the elements.

And yet, it was absolutely perfect.

Seated in a grouping of chairs set up on the field for social distancing, squinting to spot my child among a sea of young musicians, there was a feeling of fullness, of contentment.

That the last “real” event we’d attended before the world shut down was the Sullivan County All County Music Festival in March 2020 and the first “real” event we were attending was a return of music played in my mind as we listened to the music and to the crowd sounds around us, as I watched younger siblings run in the grass and grandparents kibitz with neighbors they hadn’t seen in a year.

I’d almost forgotten how good it felt to simply watch my child and other kids do things, do normal things like play the Star Spangled Banner.

I’d almost forgotten how good it felt to be a part of a community event.

I’d almost forgotten that when everything goes wrong, somehow it can still go absolutely right.

And yet, it’s all coming back.