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Grayce McCormick, 53 Public relations professional in Milwaukee Grace McCormick was in a new relationship with a family friend when the pandemic hit, and thought signs pointed to a promising
future with her boyfriend. She met him just before COVID arrived in March, and they had already enjoyed a romantic Valentine's Day evening at the opera house. But after people began
quarantining, she didn't see her boyfriend for two weeks. He expressed concerns about keeping his ex-wife and children virus free. McCormick was understanding, but eventually realized
he was using COVID-19 as an excuse to avoid her. By June, McCormick decided it was time to move on. Divorced since her 30s, McCormick, who has three children, wasn't new to the dating
scene. But there was one thing she'd never tried: Tinder. Despite the app's reputation as a hook-up site, she soon attracted the attention of a Portland man in a shirt featuring
the logo of the Green Bay Packers, McCormick's home team. Their long-distance love story began that night with hours on the phone, and they discovered they'd attended high schools
just a mile apart. "We talked every night for a month. He'd text during the day. He sent flowers and a fruit basket ... it was the sweetest thing because we hadn't even met,”
she says. She felt they both could be more vulnerable and authentic over the phone. While their first in-person meeting started carefully, with masks, they'd already been dating
virtually for almost two months. They quickly moved beyond social distancing. “We made out for like 45 minutes at the end of a pier,” she says. After months of long-distance pandemic dating,
McCormick and her new love are moving in together. It's about, she says, “as perfect as it can get." COVID-19 PROMPTS A REUNION Valerie Zucker, 51 Managing partner for a
consulting media agency in Boca Raton, Florida. Valerie Zucker and her ex-husband, Michael Buckstein, 55, have been divorced since 2016 after an eight-year marriage. They were the kind of
divorced couple that communicated often about parenting when it came to their 10-year-old daughter, London. “We were constantly in the loop, from the daily dish to health issues to schedule
changes,” Zucker says. When COVID-19 hit, Zucker's former husband was incorporated into her pandemic bubble because they shared time with their daughter. She'd invite Buckstein
over for dinner, since no one was busy. Before she knew it, Zucker was dating her ex again. "I realized I wasn't interested in looking at anyone else and he did the same thing,”
she says. After years of dating other people, Zucker says she was done with “fake profiles and fake people.” She and Buckstein realized that the “other fish in the sea” weren't as
attractive as they once seemed, and that there was a comfortable vibe to their old relationship, but with some changes.