Love Letter: Too much time together, and apart

Plus: Digital dating pods have arrived.

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story March 20, 2020

By Charanna Alexander

With many couples now confined to their homes because of the new coronavirus pandemic, some face new challenges as they adjust to the strain of being stuck together for who-knows-how-long. Here’s how to keep your relationship sane when the walls feel like they’re closing in.

IT’S COMPLICATED “The coronavirus may turn out to be the ultimate stress test for couples.” Frederic Cirou/PhotoAlto Agency, via Getty Images   Welcome to Marriage During the Coronavirus Remember: Both of you are right. By Jennifer Senior

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In a time when social distancing has become the new normal, singles are finding creative ways to find love. Some are taking a cue from the hit Netflix dating series “Love Is Blind”, and turning their rooms into digital dating pods with the help of a new social experiment led by the Love Is Quarantine Instagram account, where singles can sign up for phone dates.

And, as the spread of the virus forces some couples to postpone their weddings, others are rushing to their local marriage bureaus in hopes of getting married sooner than later. If you’re wondering if you can still get married in New York, the answer is yes — for now. The Manhattan Marriage Bureau is still open, so get there while you still can, love birds.

MODERN LOVE A formerly undocumented immigrant struggles to find love in the midst of the many lies she was forced to tell. Brian Rea   Modern Love Telling the Truth Wasn’t an Option As an undocumented immigrant in search of love, I had to lie to nearly every man I dated. By Julissa Arce Brian Rea   Modern Love Podcast: Ali Fazal Reads ‘When Your Greatest Romance Is a Friendship’ This week, the Modern Love podcast revisits an essay about the unlikely relationship between a novelist and his octogenarian neighbor, a painter. Brian Rea   Modern Love Tiny Love Stories: ‘No Dates, No Love, No Hope?’ Modern Love in miniature, featuring reader-submitted stories of no more than 100 words.

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LOVE AND MARRIAGE A funny thing happened on the way to their wedding. Kate Greer Photography   VOWS They Eloped on the Way to Their Wedding Brad Wilson and Brooke Cook were supposed to have a big church wedding Saturday in Dallas. But in their car, as they drove there from New York, they changed plans. In a hurry. By Vincent M. Mallozzi Daniel Arnold for The New York Times   Getting Married at City Hall Was an Essential Service for Some Fear of exposure to coronavirus did not keep couples from showing up to wed at the Manhattan Marriage Bureau in case it, too, would be closed. By Friday, it was. By Steven Kurutz Todd Heisler/The New York Times   An Impromptu Wedding, Social Distancing Included “Love in the time of Corona,” the invite said. “Bring your own cups if you want to toast.” By Corey Kilgannon and Todd Heisler

AT YOUR SERVICE We’re all in this together. Massimo Pinca/Reuters   How Can We Help One Another? Please share your ideas in the comments. By Nancy Wartik Stefano Guidi/Getty Images   FURTHER READING Celeste Ng, Ann Patchett, Min Jin Lee and Others on the Books That Bring Them Comfort Looking for a respite from the news? You might find solace in reading. By Elisabeth Egan and Tina Jordan 2020 Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper/Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY, via Art Resource, NY   How to Be Lonely It’s not just a negative state to be vanquished. There’s magic in it too. By Olivia Laing

LOVE IN THE NEWS And how to stay connected from afar. Photo Illustration by The New York Times   True Tales of Quarantined Socializing Digital dance raves. Streaming soundbaths. Book readings by phone. Now we’ve gotta get creative. By Caity Weaver, Sanam Yar, Jenna Wortham and Molly Oswaks     Love Is Quarantine, and Your Apartment Is the Pod A new project aims to turn social distancing into a dating game, taking a cue from “Love Is Blind.” By Taylor Lorenz     We Live in Zoom Now Zoom is where we work, go to school and party these days. By Taylor Lorenz, Erin Griffith and Mike Isaac Ted S. Warren/Associated Press   Stuck at Home, Americans Turn to Foster Pets for Companionship Shelters across the United States are reporting upticks in foster applications as people seek out a friend to ride out the coronavirus crisis with. By Sandra E. Garcia via Heaven Frilot   Her Facebook Friends Asked If Anyone Was Actually Sick. She Had an Answer. Heaven Frilot is normally a private person. But this is not a normal time. So she and her husband are now the face of the coronavirus for their conservative Louisiana community. By Elaina Plott

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We want to deliver content that truly matters to you and your feedback is helpful. Email your thoughts to loveletter@nytimes.com.

Also, here’s how to submit a Modern Love essay or how to be featured in an Unhitched column. Don’t feel like writing more than a tweet, an Instagram caption or a Facebook post? Consider submitting to Tiny Love Stories, which are no more than 100 words. Getting married? Here’s how to submit a wedding announcement.

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