Modern love the pod cast supported by produced by the island at W B. You are faster. From the New York Times and W B or Boston. This is modern love stories of love, loss and I'm your host. In the Chakrabarti, the honestly, I'm not sure what week of quarantine we're in right now, obviously it depends on how you're counting and where you are, but right now a lot of us feel stuck the middle of a huge amount of uncertainty. Will life go back to normal and when we put out a call

for your voice, memos about how you're doing during the covert nineteen outbreak, we actually got a voice. Memo from someone who captured one of those moments when something that feels normal collides with something that is far from it. This is Michelle who called us from Brooklyn New York. I decided I was going to keep online dating through this to keep some semblance of moving forward, so I downloaded a dating app and set up a first date and instead of picking the first place, we would meet. I picked which backdrop I wanted. I did a sniff check for the day and started playing deodorant on one armpit before realizing. There was no point and then we started the video call Our way through my roommate came home, she had been working as a doctor running a covert icy floor at her hospital on the Upper EAST side,

and she called my name. So I excuse myself from the date and I stood at one end of the hall where she stood at the other end by the front door wearing her mask and her scrubs and she just started sobbing And I stood there unable to go hug her cuz. We got to keep apart and she cried about her

ay and what she had seen and where was she thought was yet to come, and I tried to comfort her as best I could from a distance, and I started the shower for her and she got in, and then I went to continue on with my date to pretend, like the world will keep moving forward in the same way that it always has and hears Astrid she's been with her husband Kevin for almost twenty years, he's a fifty year old oral surgeon who practices in LOS Angeles in the evening of March twenty. Second, my husband walks into the kitchen and calmly tells me that he's feeling a bit aching and has a low grade. Temp things went downhill pretty quickly. The fever, the chills, the intense my address, the headache, basically, the flu

steroids. I was alone, Kevin was quarantined in our bedroom and he had given me strict, sterile technique, guidelines which basically meant don't come in here at all. Unless you are bringing me water or food, Kevin also instructed me to wear gloves and a surgical mask around the kids on day five. We got Kevin's positive test result back no big, surprise there. Luckily, the virus never affected his breathing. So, relatively speaking, he got off easy, but I still had never seen my ultra fit healthy husband. This sick were on day ten. Today, I'm feeling well

Kevin is still recuperating, but he's smiling and here's Kevin as a surgeon who's endured the rigors of surgical residency. I figured I could withstand just about anything covered. Nineteen certainly has put me to the test knocked me on my ass. These have been some of the most difficult times of my life, but the outpouring of love and the support from my family and friends has been unbelievable. Even

If you aren't facing covered nineteen itself. Many of you are dealing with related challenge. One listener Julie learned that her second round of idea would be cancelled because of Gruner virus. He had a successful transfer than in January and at seven weeks I suffered a miscarriage, so we ve been getting back on our feed. We ve been anxiously awaiting another chance to divide the f and we were a four days away from from being ready to go when we got a call from the nurse that my ivy f cycle would become

Open definitely so anyone that's not there. That's listening today that isn't a position. I just want you to know that you're not alone, and I'm thinking of you. My name is Taylor and before Covid I went through a couple of changes. One was a breakup and the other was getting sober. I've been sober for over four months now, but over half of that time was with my former partner. So doing it alone, and through isolation feels really different. I know that if I was still drinking during this period, I would probably have used it to nurture my relationship with alcohol. I probably would have loved having an excuse to drink alone. Every night

But I do find it interesting how, even though there is a lesson pressure to drink in the sense that bars are closed and gatherings are netted. They still a lot of virtual pressure, and I found that I've had to kind of virtually distance myself in addition to the physical distancing, which can feel even more lonely. So my heart really goes out to people who are struggling with addiction right now I modernized my love. My name is Angela amazing to think I'm right here when my long distance boyfriend Eric and I were breaking up. the being heard by very angry and devastated during that time. My luck hey I'm on my ah and they shredding a quarantine after being exposed to person. A who tested positive

and Eric is one of the very few who know, and then he checks in the everyday reminds me to stay positive constantly making the last. Ah, if anything, Kobe nineteen has shown me that love evolves and that love is more than just romance. Friendship care, and ah it's who's there for us when and weird especially when we're scared, we'll be back with more of your stories after the break

I love being my boyfriend, and I often play falling, be together by together. I been sitting next to each other of playing individually and not cheating. Sometimes, when I open up spelling bee, I see that you have completed a few words on your own. I feel a little betrayed. You ferry, it may have happened again today. I have one friend who I will send screenshots from spelling bee of inappropriate words that I always get nervous that I sent it to my parents or something like that was my dad. It was the first time together and I was out. I think I got to see it J C K, P, o g, jackpot, panic, yeah, nice

I'm same is risky. The digital puzzles editor for the New York Times. You can try spelling bee and all our games at annoying times. Not come flash games I love spelling bee my boyfriend and I often play spelling bee together by together I mean sitting next to each other playing individually and not cheating. Sometimes, when I open up spelling bee- and I see that you have completed a few words on your own- I feel a little betrayed. Sorry, it may have happened again. I have one friend who I will send screenshots from spelling bee of inappropriate words that I always get nervous that I sent it to my parents, or something like that was my dad was the first time together and I was out. I think I got it see it J C K, p o t jack. Yeah yeah, nice.

I'm same as earth's sky. The digital puzzles editor for the New York Times. You can try, spelling bee and all our games at N Y Times dot com. Slash games, we're back with more of your stories about how the coven name Panda, make is impacting you and your relationships. I magnet Accra Party, my name s neck in the May, I mean Richmond Virginia. I was talking to my five year old, who asked if he could go to the hospital and, whereas Elsa costume to cheer people up. Can I told him that he couldn't you couldn't go it's not safe because of the virus, and he asked me. Why do you call every day because I'm a doctor,

the one at the hospital facing coronavirus every day and the whole situation has really put into focus the deep love I have for my family and the balance between that and the love I have for my job because it's more than a duty and an oath. I really do I love my job. And I love my patience and when I talked to them during this time in their setting me personal protective equipment, and telling me that they're worrying about me. It makes me think that they left me too. Here's Margo she's twenty three and has been living in Ghana for the past three months when the threat from coronavirus started escalating. She tried to come back to the United States, but she wasn't.

Able to get out of the country when flights were cancelled and the borders closed. Margo says the whole: Experience has brought her closer to her mother she's in her late, Steve and barely knows how to flip the camera on her eye phone, but now that we ve accepted that I'm basically stuck here until the border opens again. We have just kind of gone up this new path of our relationship. I think we're always close, but so I M going to cry but now just like we're realizing how much like just start presence alone is so important. So I just I have gotten her to play like words with friends and I'm shall hold her face time open just like, while she's working and will just like sit there, in silence, because I'm four hours ahead so just like having the phone open just like keeps the scene

many of you, are trying to find ways of figuring out what quarantine looks like when you're away from home, Miss Natalie and my boyfriend or fail, and I are currently living in a vacant boarding school in the centre of Rome six months ago or fail move to Rome joining me here after two years of dating long distance for the past twenty six days we ve spent every moment together and with barely five, to save money. Our school has turned off heating and lights during the day, so the corridors are cold and dark, it's early April Every morning we run laughs and the school driveway and every evening or fail reads me pages from the books he studying for his Phd in art history, we fall asleep puzzling over the identities of anonymous renaissance artists and then we, Gap and do it all over again, you Charlotte

She was in New Hampshire, with her family and she's been trying to make this time fun for both her and her kids. I've developed a series of personas me out in the morning when I have to drag the children out of bed. So I have russian Babushka Lady and she sounds like this and she tells the children she will only serve them borscht for breakfast. I have Sylvia and she's just a lady from Brooklyn and she's, very, very cynical about the state of the union and about what we can offer our citizens in terms of support. We have scottish Nan. She takes them on long hikes through the woods to make sure that our hearts are pumping. It makes me laugh, it makes the children laugh. There is something about someone else, delivering the harsh news that, yes, you still have to brush your teeth, even though you're in quarantine and somehow it's allowing me to survive

this fraught exhausting terrifying moment and here's Glenn Weaver a lieutenant colonel in the air force. Right now Worried about a lot of people, including his fiance, his daughter and the twenty one people who work for him. I came on active duty before nine eleven and had been deployed to war for several years, but that was different than coronavirus in that I'm older and wiser now and just realize how fragile love and life can be. But I also know that love is resilient. I have hope for the future and that after this is all over with, we will all be together and then I'll be stronger and be able to love better.

After it all. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this episode. You can find a full list of contributors. At W B, you are dot, org, slash, modern love, leave you with just one more thing, a postcard of how a lot of you are spending your time right now, because all of us. or figuring out what our days look like from how to deal with big life events to the mundane ones, where pretty much all just sitting at home, then watching love is blind. we play corn whole cause. We bought cornel alone. We bought one thousand peace puzzle. We finish in five days, while we almost finished in of the puzzles one thousand pieces, we only had nine hundred and ninety nine. I couldn't delicious food an hour God naked and forty six and single, and the only body I can touch- is my Orange Tabby cat who curled up at my waist in bed. It's just

nice to spend a little bit more time with the person that I love. While I still can- and the next thing I know he's down on Wednesday, with a beautiful rig asking me to marry him, I was able to officiate my niece's wedding overdue. We did our vow and we had take out that was delivered to us and to earn our car, and that was our our wedding. The modern love is a production of the New York Times and WB. You are Boston's, NPR station is produced, directed and edited by Caitlin O'Keeffe, original scoring and sound designed by man. We Iris, Adler or executive producer were edited by council brewer Daniel Jones is the editor of modern love for the New York Times anybody's or to the show. The idea for the model of high cast was conceived. Babysitter,

additional thanks to Mealy Julia Simon and honest Remy and at the New York Times and to Paul Kilo at W B. You are Meghna Chakrabarti, hang tough. Everyone will see you next week. the.