Even with the best fit in a relationship, external circumstances beyond our control can still give us fits.
My husband and I are incredibly well matched. We are both introverts, which helps us to understand each other’s needs for quiet, downtime and solitude. We also enjoy similar sensibilities as far as what is cool or fun or interesting to us. Most of the time, we get along unbelievably easily.
Enter coronavirus. Before the plague, we stayed home most of the time as our preferred habit, now it is non-negotiable. Couple that with fears and anxieties about a virus affecting our world in likely permanent but as yet unknown ways. Time has lost much of it’s daily meaning. Our news consumption is way up while our stocks are way down. The weather is grey and rainy. Not surprisingly, all of this has strained even us! Quirks and foibles have gone swiftly from endearing to infuriating at times.
Luckily, we both recognize that nobody is going to be at their best right now. Its just not possible. So we give each other grace and as much space as we can. And believe me when I say my husband had to overlook a lot for me today: premenstrual, flat on my back with a muscle strain, feeling guilty about not working enough in recent days and suffering from a yeast infection. He (wisely) kept his distance, took out the trash and offered to venture out and get me some medicine for my afflicted nether regions. TMI? Maybe, but my point is being there for each other when the world has gone topsy-turvy is fucking hard no matter how good your relationship is. The good times are easy, the challenging times are really the litmus test.