The year is 2021. Jacob is happily married, a devoted husband to Nina, and a father to his three children. He works at a modest job as a factory worker in the Midwest United States, somewhere in the Chicago metropolitan area. Even though the industry, in general, is on a sharp decline in the United States, there is still some carryover from the dying industry in the Midwest and Northeast. The region is affectionately known as the “Rust Belt.”
Jacob doesn’t mind that this sometimes is used as an insult to disparage or propagate this part of a country as some sort of political agenda. He goes on with his daily life and work and comes home to a loving household in which Nina works as a bookkeeper for a small financial firm in the city. She has had the luxury of working from home these past few months. The reason she has been able to be is because of a new, very scary time in which a pandemic has attacked the entire globe. Aside from the occasional shutdown and break from the factory, Jacob hasn’t been able to have the same luxury afforded to him. He still commutes 25 minutes a day to go to his factory job and come home to his wife and three small children at the end of the day.
Nina looks very overworked, having to balance being at home working and taking care of their three small children while Jacob is working 8–10 hour days at the factory five days a week. He comes home very worn down too, and he just goes straight to bed. He barely has time to look up long enough to give his wife and kids a kiss goodnight.
Their love through the difficult times still endures despite the recent lack of intimacy in their relationship. Reports on the news surface that the reported domestic violence cases are up somewhere between 25–33% worldwide in 2020 over the years prior. This doesn’t bother either one of them because their relationship was strong before the pandemic and continues to stay strong despite the strain of the restrictions and the shutdowns. They promised each other through everything that they would never lift a hand to each other. Jacob and Nina made a promise to themselves and their kids that any disagreement they ever had would be handled without violence. Both of them had come from violent childhoods where one or both of their parents were physically and emotionally abusive, and they didn’t want to have their children subjected to that. Despite seeming well adjusted, both of them did have their mental shortcomings and sometimes resorted to yelling at each other, but level heads normally prevailed during their arguments. They also rarely went to bed without saying, “I love you,” and giving each other a warm mouth kiss before bed no matter how bad the day had gone or how upset or frustrated either one of them was.
They had to admit that the pandemic was making life harder on them and making it harder each day for them. He wishes he had more education like his wife. He wishes he had a job that would allow him to work from home so he could spend more time with his wife and kids. There are days on end where he just feels like giving up and quitting his job just to be able to stay home and be with his family. Jacob persists through these thoughts. He knows that if he misses any work that his family will be in financial trouble. He continues to hope and pray that one day his existence becomes a little better. He has a family to raise and a wife, Nina, whom he loves very dearly. He wishes his wife didn’t have to do double duty with raising their kids and working at the same time. He wishes he could afford to pay someone to take care of them and that that wouldn’t run a risk of infection for his family in the current state of affairs.
At the end of the day, Jacob’s biggest wish for his family and his wife, Nina, is that they can get through the pandemic intact as a happy, loving family. He also wishes those doubts and insecurities about his own lot in life would disappear because, in his mind, he’s doing his best for his family but feels like he could do a lot more given his family’s financial situation. Chicago is certainly not a cheap place to live, and his wife and his salary combined are just enough to afford their bills and give them very little to no savings every month. One bad month could burst their bubble. Only 39% of Americans could even afford to pay for an emergency bill of $1,000. In his mind, though, no matter what, he would never let that happen. He knows his wife would never let it happen either.
Despite the strain of financial worry, global pandemic, and rising insecurity, their love survives and finds a way to peek through the sullen ground of this current climate in the world to find an opening, like in a meadow. The reason they fell in love in the first place is still evident. They have three wonderful children as proof of that. They both still love and respect each other deeply and would sacrifice the world for each other. The pandemic isn’t really a barrier to their love, just to their life. They will overcome this just like they’ve overcome everything else in their lives up to this point.
Writer’s Note: The names have been changed to give it the feel of a more generic, American love story during the pandemic and to protect the identities and private lives of the people who are going through this right now.
