Don Your Way column: Coping with relationship life on lockdown

Are you climbing the walls yet and has cabin fever set in as you struggle to come up with ways of filling your time inside the same few rooms?

I’ll be honest, it has proved a bit of a slog.

Like all my Free Press colleagues, we’re all working from our homes, dinner tables and spare bedrooms turned into makeshift offices, the extent of newsgathering stretching little further than looking out of the window every now and again.

On a more personal level, I’m unfortunately living apart from my partner at the moment because of the coronavirus pandemic.

So close, but so far apart – we’ve resorted to texts, Facebook messages, calls, letters, WhatsApp and Facetime to keep in touch. It’s not impossible if you’re prepared to put the effort and groundwork in when it comes to making a relationship work.

It’s not been easy, but we’re already busy making plans for the millions of things we want to do when all this is over.

I’m just grateful I’m in a happy, loving relationship and not cooped up with someone I can’t stand the sight of – which I'm sure will apply to many reading this column right now.

That said, being separated from loved ones is small fry to some of the sad stories I’ve heard this week.

One friend wasn’t able to spend precious time with her dying dad in his last few days while another wasn’t able to be at the bedside of her mum for an important operation.

Life is very tough for everyone right now and when you hear stories like that, it suddenly puts into perspective people grumbling because McDonald’s is shut or that Sainsbury’s has run out of toilet roll again.

The quicker everyone does what they are told, the sooner we can all get over this and get back to normal life.

Thankfully the message finally seems to be sinking in and people are staying behind closed doors.

Now, where did I put my phone? Excuse me while I call my other half...