Love In The Face Of A Pandemic

Mar 06, 2020

Hello fellow humans,

Our everyday lives are shifting beneath us.

For some, you’re able to rock with it (or perhaps completely ignore it). Going about your day-to-day; washing your hands a bit longer to match a song of choice (I recommend Lizzo’s “Good As Hell.”)

Then there are those like me; a high-functioning ball of panic that is stumbling while the world adjusts. Scanning Amazon for bulk hand sanitizer and feeling your chest tighten every time you see the number of global cases rise.

But I’m not sending this email to talk about the actual threat of the Coronavirus.

I’m sending this email because, like it or not, we’re having to consider our lives if a worst-case scenario occurs.

Speaking as someone that grew up in the ’90s in America, I’ve never had to alter my life based on an impending threat.

No homeland wars. No grave disease. Nothing. (Though I remember the swine flu and N1H1 vaguely).

Hearing all this talk about schools shutting down and seeing the pasta aisle of Trader Joes completely wiped alone is jarring for me (I know, boo hoo. I’ll admit, it could be worse).

Growing up in Florida, my dad was always... ahem.. prepared. We had flashlights in case of a blackout, a generator for hurricanes, and military-grade gas masks in case of nuclear war.

You know, the kind you saw in shows like Chernobyl.

At that time, I never needed to worry; my dad did enough for our whole family. I grew up with the sense that preparedness is better than being blind-sided; my ten-year-old self ogled at the horrifying masks with an odd sense of peace.

So it’s no surprise, I’m doing what I can to prepare for if the Coronavirus spreads.

That includes having talks with my boyfriend that I, frankly, never thought I would have.

Would we quarantine together? I mean, I don’t even know if that’s possible. If we both have it, can we just ride it out together? Will it continuously spread between us? That’s probably not the point here, but like, your apartment or mine?

Is our emergency plan the same? We’ve only been dating for eight months. Is that serious enough to ride out a pandemic together?

Would I be willing to hole up with you for weeks, maybe months? I love spending time with you, but days on days? Months? That’s a certain kind of commitment; it’s basically moving in. Will I get keys? Can I bring my plants?

And so on and so on until we’re making love with gas masks on.

Kidding.

But really, love is something special. Even more so if you choose to have your partner be there with you through an outbreak.

When things are on the brink of drastically changing, what does that mean for love?

I’m curious from you all:

What kind of conversations have you had with your partner about the virus?

How has your dating life been affected?

Let me know in the comments. A beautiful feature where we can discuss whatever we want.

Until next week my lovely readers.

All the love that surpasses pandemics,

Kirstie