They Met During Lockdown. They Realized Who They Were Dating Later.
All relationships have a private and a public side. Many couples who met during the pandemic are just starting to grapple with the <em>public</em> part.
Shortly before the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Celia, an American who was working as a teaching assistant in Spain, began to date a man casually. When the spread of the virus intensified, she essentially moved in with him. She was stressed about the status of their relationship, which they never defined. But the couple didn’t argue, and they were both very affectionate; after finishing work, they cooked and baked together. “He was extremely sweet and caring,” Celia told me. (She asked to be identified by her first name only to protect her privacy in discussing personal matters.)
But after Spain’s restrictions eased last summer, she noticed that the man behaved differently outside the house.
