Now, we are all going through a crisis, and I have been separated from my husband for five months. He moved out of our house on December 1st, a few months after we made the mutual decision to split. I have not once regretted this decision, which took many years of unease and heartache to finally reach, and I even started dating someone fairly quickly, enjoying my newfound freedom.
But now, we are going through a pandemic.
***
And while at first I was still seeing my boyfriend, considering him to be the “family” that I was “sheltering in place” with (as well as my son, who is with me half-time), over six weeks ago, when Washington State finally went into quarantine, we decided to take greater precautions. After all, it wasn’t just him, my son, and me. It was also — through my son — my husband, and his new girlfriend, and her two teen-aged kids, and whomever they were in contact with. And it was also my boyfriend’s roommate, and whomever she was dating, and whomever they lived with — and the chain goes on. It was easy to see how me choosing to still date my boyfriend was not just being in contact with “one more person” but a whole cluster of us who were now connected. So while I at first praised the silver lining of having established an exciting new relationship before this global tragedy hit (At least I’m newly in love! And we’ll have so much more time to get to know each other!), once I realized that we would not be seeing each other, this quickly shifted for me into a new level of pain.
I have been separated from my husband for four months. I have not once regretted this decision…But now, we are going through a pandemic.My ex and I used to watch the Doomsday Preppers reality show on the National Geographic channel together, and talk about how crazy those people were at the same time that we made mental notes about their good ideas. After watching enough episodes, we finally put together some basic earthquake supplies (the most likely disaster to hit us in the Pacific Northwest); we bought a rectangular plastic bin and filled it with freeze-dried foods, a first aid kit, hand-cranked radio, flashlight and extra batteries, extra clothes and shoes, our camping gear, some toilet paper, and a few random extras like playing cards and my expired pain meds from my cesarean (they could come in handy). We filled a couple jugs full of water and tried to remember to switch it out now and then. I put shoes under our beds (in case windows break, you need to be able to walk out of the house and not cut your feet), and continually reminded myself to get an extra pair of glasses (because without my vision, I’d be screwed and helpless). We would have gotten a very poor grade as preppers, but we did enough to feel a little better about our situation. And I knew that no matter what, we’d be in it together. That gave me comfort. I would not have to go through such a crisis alone.
Now, we are all going through a crisis, and I have been separated from my husband for five months. He moved out of our house on December 1st, a few months after we made the mutual decision to split. I have not once regretted this decision, which took many years of unease and heartache to finally reach, and I even started dating someone fairly quickly, enjoying my newfound freedom.
But now, we are going through a pandemic.
***
And while at first I was still seeing my boyfriend, considering him to be the “family” that I was “sheltering in place” with (as well as my son, who is with me half-time), over six weeks ago, when Washington State finally went into quarantine, we decided to take greater precautions. After all, it wasn’t just him, my son, and me. It was also — through my son — my husband, and his new girlfriend, and her two teen-aged kids, and whomever they were in contact with. And it was also my boyfriend’s roommate, and whomever she was dating, and whomever they lived with — and the chain goes on. It was easy to see how me choosing to still date my boyfriend was not just being in contact with “one more person” but a whole cluster of us who were now connected. So while I at first praised the silver lining of having established an exciting new relationship before this global tragedy hit (At least I’m newly in love! And we’ll have so much more time to get to know each other!), once I realized that we would not be seeing each other, this quickly shifted for me into a new level of pain.
I have been separated from my husband for four months. I have not once regretted this decision…But now, we are going through a pandemic. thanks
kogimoves 