Love in the Time of Corvid-19

When I first introduced him to my dearest colleague, some forty years ago (give or take), our conversation was long and interesting and very genial. The next day I asked, “Well?” And my colleague said with his characteristic smile, “He’ll keep your mind alive.”

Now we’re in our house, confined because of the virus madly multiplying outside. We’re a fairly sedentary couple anyway, apart from bursts of activity involved with theater productions and my comings and goings in the name of higher education and all that that entails. After some years of various employment experiences, some engrossing and some tiresome, he works primarily at home now, writing pieces that transport other people to exotic places. We have a small circle of family and hang-out-with friends, and a large circle of friends we see from time to time. Both of us spend a lot of time at our computers, in our separate study/offices. We feed the birds, we watch MSNBC and selected movies, we read newspapers and magazines and books, we cook, we eat, we enjoy a quiet drink or two. We don’t do enough housekeeping or yard work. We share a car. And we talk. And talk.

The great thing, after all these years, is that we can still talk without repeating ourselves–our stories, our ideas; I have to admit I at least repeat my gripes quite often, having inherited my mother’s ability to nurse a grudge. He’s wonderful to talk to.

And during this time of confinement, I haven’t really felt confined. Day follows day, in quiet or in conversation; and although I do miss the punctuation of classes, meetings, rehearsals, shopping, meeting a friend for coffee, I’m content so far, not longing for things to do to distract me. Maybe as the shelter-in-place goes on I’ll get restless, but I know I won’t get bored. And I think, ultimately, that this is what love is. The steady pleasure in each other’s company.

If you’d like to share your own story of Love in the Time of Corvid-19, please leave it in a Comment and I’ll add it to this page, with your name. Thank you!