I Moved In With My Boyfriend During A Pandemic

I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Rain was pouring from the sky as I sat in the Vons parking lot, unable to speak let alone drive. There were $300 worth of groceries and frozen foods melting in my backseat. I’m no stranger to this feeling. I’d suffered anxiety attacks many times before, but this one was far more intense than any I’d previously experienced. As my boyfriend tried to comfort me and tears were streaming down my cheeks, all I could manage to choke out through the hyperventilation was, “I’m not allowed to touch my face!” We had just spent an hour combing the aisles of a practically empty grocery store. It was crowded and I had convinced myself that everyone around us, myself included, was infected, or would soon be infected with the coronavirus. My boyfriend couldn’t tell me I was being paranoid. Unfortunately, no one could tell me I was overreacting or that I had nothing to worry about. We had to get home, not only to save our groceries, but to pack. Los Angeles was shutting down due to COVID-19 and my boyfriend and I were moving in together for the first time.

After spending Christmas together with our families, my boyfriend of a year told me he was ready to take the next step in our relationship. He wanted us to move in together and I was over the moon. It was something I had been waiting for him to say for a few months and hearing him finally utter…