5 Lockdowns, 0 First Dates: Dating, during a pandemic.

5 Lockdowns, 0 First Dates

I met the most amazing man – it was April 6th, 2020. The sun was shining, I swiped the correct way and we started chatting online, in one of those Dating Apps! You know the one, where the women have the control, we are empowered, we are fierce, we choose which direction we swipe and we are proud! One of those Apps. The chatting was fast, furious and intense. If we were to be doing the same kind of chatting in person, we’d surely go blue in the face. In a blink we had swapped numbers, in a heartbeat we had agreed to meet and in the flutter of a smokey eye with accompanying lash, we fell in love. It is my favourite love story, but it’s a love story with a difference.

Lockdown

No first date. Not one! Still to this day, not one date. Not in the real sense of the word, not in the ‘wine me, dine me…’ sense of the word date. You see we are a Corona Virus success story. We met on the precipice of lockdown, the absolute precipice. We met and laughed at the crazy state of affairs, how the world was about to be thrown into turmoil and how the Earth was about to be ripped apart by this crazy virus. Then we realised what this actually meant. This lockdown meant no contact – we lived 50kms apart, that’s a lot in a normal world where you can travel, in a lockdown world it meant no visiting, not ever! It was unimaginable to me, not to meet him, not to see him – what madness was this!

Joke, no jokes!

We joked at first that we would wait the 20 weeks that lockdown was touted to go for. We joked, that we could go 20 weeks and not meet, that we would be happy to stay on the phone to one another until we were allowed to meet, until lockdown was lifted. Day two of conversation saw us laughing until we cried, it saw the sharing of information and key life events to date. There was no topic off limits and there was no topic too sensitive. Lockdown was spoken about on the news at length and the numbers were better than 20 weeks. It was said that maybe Melbourne and surrounds would just lockdown for 4 weeks. We could totally do 4 weeks, we were ok with 4.

Heart and Brain say Yes

There wasn’t a moment in the first week when we weren’t either talking on the phone or messaging. It was an intense communication that saw us unravel our lives before the other’s eyes, well ears at least. We shared some of our most secretive of secrets, wrapped totally in the conversation, for me the lockdown weeks were beginning to jar at me. Then it happened. The brief conversation that led to us meeting. It was Easter Saturday and he said to me ‘I’m coming over on Monday, if you’ll have me!’ My heart and brain on the same page, responding with ‘Yes,’ before I even thought about it really. Lockdown was just about to kick in, but both he and I knew there was no way we would wait the 4 weeks, nor the 20, we were going to meet and we were going to meet fast.

Just Dive In

Our story is a little different though because we have never been on a first date. A week after we met Lockdown hit. So, we saw one another on the weekend and when he would leave, sadness would prevail until we would see each other again. But we never had a first date, ever. We have had 5 lockdowns though, but we found a way around those very quickly – we moved in together. Wouldn’t have it any other way. Much like all our conversations that involve anything remotely adult and important, we do them with clarity of soul and fearless trust in one another. It is as if we have known one another our entire lives. It is as if our paths have crossed before. It is as if we just knew, the moment the phone calls started that this was our person, forever, despite the crazy state of the world and despite the fact that turmoil was prevailing everywhere else. Our bubble was filled with only happiness and we embraced all the challenges that were faced.

The Message

The message here is simple, even in the most frantic of times and despite the pessimistic World and what it had to offer, you need to look inward, look within yourself and the happiness you have inside you and just believe things will be ok. Believe that you will be happy and you will. Believe that you can succeed and you will. Believe that even though your relationship didn’t start conventionally, it will both survive and flourish. We still haven’t gone of that first date, however, the bond we have is unbreakable and unbelievable. We have seen our whole lives change harmoniously and with enthusiasm. First dates don’t matter, what does matter is what you find within yourself, harness it and embrace it with all you have and who knows, your forever may just sparkle beyond your wildest expectations.

Photo by Tofros.com from Pexels