Coronavirus Is Forcing Me To Self-Isolate With My Now Ex-Husband
When I’ve experienced break-ups in the past, I’ve stopped seeing that person for a while. After all, it’s what would you usually expect to do when you split with somebody significant, isn’t it? To make it a ‘clean break’; to give yourself time to get used to your ‘new normal’. To lick your wounds. In some cases, I’ve needed to cut off contact with my exes completely, knowing that to keep in touch would only prolong the inevitable heartbreak and keep me in mourning.
But thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, and the rules around social distancing, this time round I can’t do any of these things. Instead, I now find myself in near total isolation with my kids… and my newly-separated ex-husband.
When the lockdown was first announced, I was worried we might be at each other’s throats. No longer bound by the ground rules most couples use to protect their relationship: warm hugs, kisses, ‘date nights’ and saying sorry after cross words. I feared that when we were no longer sharing a bed, the essential time for ‘pillow talk’ – where you go through your stresses at the end of the day – would leave us both feeling angry, hurt and alone.
But while I’m understandably anxious about my rather ‘unique’ situation, I’m hopeful, too.
Ask me again in a month, but so far, so good. Our split has been amicable, devoid of acrimony, jealousy or resentment. All that killed our relationship was a loss of romantic love. We still care for each other deeply, and we live together well – we cook and watch Netflix at the same time, but sleep in separate rooms.
We’ve got through the first couple of weeks since the schools shut, but as the lockdown continues, I’m worried it’ll get trickier and more suffocating...
The main issue is that rules around ‘social distancing’ leave us without any alternative options; no places of escape, no cherished nights out with other people to keep us sane. There’s also no prospect for either of us to...
