{"id":6436,"date":"2021-03-03T09:52:03","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T14:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=6436"},"modified":"2025-08-23T17:52:23","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T21:52:23","slug":"love-in-a-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2021\/03\/03\/love-in-a-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Love in a Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When imagining the perfect Valentine\u2019s with your hubby, stuffy masks, social distancing and ordering in usually don\u2019t come to mind. This season of love was the first for most lovebirds to be celebrated in a pandemic. Eating out at a fancy restaurant, going on a romantic scavenger hunt or making a public declaration of love was not in the cards for the season\u2019s hopeful lovebirds. Plans changed and new creative ways to show your love had to be created. Whether you\u2019re in the throes of puppy love or your third year of a committed relationship,\u00a0 Feb. 14th can be daunting for any couple, especially in a pandemic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0First year at UMPI, Rebekah Potrero, and her boyfriend, Marcus Daigle, celebrated this Valentine\u2019s Day in the safety of their own home. Their love story began with a right swipe on Tinder and has been going strong for a little over six months. Rebekah is 19, while Marcus is 18. Rebekah\u2019s opinion on Valentine\u2019s Day is that it should be celebrated more than once a year. While Marcus was somewhat indifferent about the holiday, he still feels it should be celebrated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Marcus and Rebekah taking a Valentine’s Day selfie.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0With such a limited choice of COVID-safe dates and social-distanced romantic gestures, it was hard to make the holiday romantically memorable. Rebekah found it, \u201c Less (memorable) because we couldn’t do anything. Not as memorable as it could have been.\u201d Marcus agreed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The couple enjoyed the holiday by exchanging gifts, watching the Aladdin movies and some Gordan Ramsey shows, all while cuddling. Rebekah made Marcus a homemade gift, while Marcus got her a bouquet of flowers and some Valentine\u2019s chocolates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This couple\u2019s Valentine\u2019s Day wasn\u2019t much different from their regular dates. Celebrating at home is their usual style and they wouldn\u2019t have it any other way.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The younger generation wasn\u2019t the only one struggling with the new pandemic world this Valentine\u2019s Day. While one couple celebrated at home watching movies, another decided to have a Valentine\u2019s date in the northern Maine woods.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Julie Collins, 40, and Terry Brooker,47,\u00a0 spent their pandemic Valentine\u2019s Day on the snowmobile trails and at home cooking a delicious meal together. The couple has been together for two years now. They met at work, but before their love story began, the couple started as snowmobiling buddies. A relationship that started in friendship has lasted them a cheerful two years of love and communication. Julie and Terry explained that Valentine\u2019s Day is a fun holiday. But in the grand scheme of things, it\u2019s not super important to them.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Julie and Terry’s pup, Abby, enjoying their Valentine’s Day dessert.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Julie said, \u201cYou should show your love for each other all year long.\u201d The couple explained that the pandemic hasn\u2019t changed how they go on dates. They usually enjoy cooking together and having fun days in the woods either at their camp or snowmobiling. The two enjoyed just that on Valentine\u2019s day. They spent Saturday on the trails, while they filled Sunday with cooking delicious food, watching their favorite shows and cuddling their pup. The couple also found thoughtful ways to show their love.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Julie said, \u201cFor Valentine’s Day, I got Terry a card reminding him that I fall in love with him more every day. Terry got me a gallon of oil for my sled and new floor mats for my truck.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Even in the wake of a global pandemic, people keep persevering through their daily lives while finding the new normal. Whether it\u2019s Valentine\u2019s Day or their day-to-day lives, these couples have shown that COVID hasn\u2019t stopped them from making time together special. From making homemade gifts to getting out of the house and into nature, these two couples made the most of their Valentines. Even with the way the world is today, there is still love in a pandemic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When imagining the perfect Valentine\u2019s with your hubby, stuffy masks, social distancing and ordering in usually don\u2019t come to mind. This season of love was the first for most lovebirds to be celebrated in a pandemic. Eating out at a fancy restaurant, going on a romantic scavenger hunt or making a public declaration of love […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6436"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8320,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6436\/revisions\/8320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}