My boyfriend, Alex, and I have been together for almost 2 years. We met on Thanksgiving, online in 2018 and we texted, facetimed, and called each other for a whole month prior to meeting on December 20, 2018, the same day, he walked through my door for the first time and kissed me and then asked me to be his girlfriend on a swing in the rain. We were long distance for a while when he was still in school in upstate New York and I was in Pennsylvania still. We had visits, facetimes, and countless texts, and then he graduated, traveled Europe for 2-weeks, and moved to New York for work. We finally got to be together more often again when I moved to New York in August for school. We had a great time pre-corona and then we were long distance for a bit of time when the dorms closed and he came home for a bit, then he came back to be here in his apartment. I came up for weeks at a time and we viewed apartments, signed in May, and moved in July. Now, we live in Williamsburg and are always together with our puppy and are happy not being long distance anymore. I asked him and myself the following questions about how quarantine made our relationship flourish:
-
How have we gotten closer in quarantine? Well, first we’re physically closer since we did move in together in July. We also have always been very honest and open with one another, but we are even more so now. We think the combination of moving in and spending so much time together, in general, brought us closer in our relationship and to each other as people.
-
How did being apart for part of quarantine drive us closer? I mean, they say distance makes the heart grow fonder and even though I hate that saying when we’re apart because I’m sad and don’t wanna believe it, we are always super happy to see each other once we can again so that is a huge plus. But, we always wanna be together, so we’re always pretty fond of each other.
-
What have we been doing more of together? Definitely cooking and just eating more together, we’ve been having every meal together and cooking more than ever. Between trying new recipes and new take-out from local restaurants, we’re always eating together. And whether we’re talking or not, silent comfort is nice. We’ve also watched multiple shows together including New Girl, Community, and The Haunting of Bly Manor (we’re on the last 2 currently). Also, The Bachelorette currently.
-
Have we been talking/sharing more? Yes, but we’ve always shared to the max.
-
Have we gotten physically closer? More need for hugs, kisses, cuddles? Yes. We’ve had a lot of good hugs and cuddles and have definitely needed more kisses, even though I always need a lot of loving.
-
What have we found out/learned about one another? Shelby: I’ve found out that Alex is a great cook, I already knew it, but I think he’s gotten better. He’s also so so great at taking care of me and Indy, but he’s always been very compassionate. Alex: I think we’ve learned a lot about what’s important to each other. Like getting to spend time together just the two of us is really important to you, which wasn’t as big of an issue before covid. And about me, I think it’s been clear that keeping things clean/in order in the apartment since we’re here all the time. And I think we’ve both been making more of an effort to do those things for each other because we know them now.
-
What made us decide to live together? We already wanted to and we were planning it anyway.
-
What made us decide to get Indy? We were already planning on getting a puppy.
-
How has Indy brought us closer? She has made us talk about poop a lot more openly, and I already talked about it pretty openly so that might be scary. She’s brought us closer by having us both love her fully and always want to be with her and therefore, together. Although we would still be together if not for her, she is amazing.
-
How has this time together been good for us? It’s made us talk more, get closer, and hangout just calmly more, just being together without the need to go do something. (Although, again, we were already okay with this before).
Alex and I have gone through a lot together in quarantine and during our relationship before quarantine, but this time together has brought us closer than ever and made us appreciate the small things more.