( Parkor Thomas / Facebook)

By Tiffany Goodwein

Medicine Hat couples find love in the midst of pandemic

Jul 27, 2020 | 6:00 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB- Dating during a pandemic may seem like a daunting task, with public health measures requiring people to stay six feet apart, making the typical kiss or cuddle, a questionable venture. Add in venue closures for businesses like restaurants and movie theatres, and finding a location to date can become a challenge. But Hatters are still making it work, proving that the sparks can fly, even at six feet apart.

Take, for instance, Krystin Carroll and Parkor Thomas. The couple met at church in January and if you asked them at the start of the year where they would be, they probably wouldn’t have said together. But remarkably after just six months, the couple not only dated but became engaged after Parkor popped the question on July 3, just as the sun was rising.

“It was so beautiful and just as it peaked over the horizon, he looked at me and said, ‘It’s a new season, and I was like, ‘no it’s not it is still summer what are you talking about? And I was kind of confused and he was like ‘ no it’s a new season for us, and I was like, what? So he turns to me and he gets down on one knee and pulls out the ring box and that’s when I like freaked out because I did not expect that,” Carroll said.

Prior to their engagement, getting to know each other in the midst of COVID-19 meant getting creative.

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Their very first date was a coffee date, done virtually.

“ We brewed coffee at about 5 p.m, at night. We sat down, I was in my room she was at her house and we put on FaceTime and we just sat there with coffee and chatted and it lasted for about five, six hours straight,” Thomas said.

Virtual coffee dates then turned to watching movies together, at a social distance by using FaceTime and linking movies together with Netflix Party.

With the weather frigid near the start of their relationship, the couple made use of their vehicles to go on adventures, by putting their phones on Bluetooth and driving around town all while talking to each other. The date would then finish off with a trip through the drive-through and a chat in a parking lot, all while remaining in their own cars.

(submitted photo/ Follow The Hope)

Krystin and Parkor aren’t the only couples that managed to find love in the middle of a pandemic. For Calvin Linn and Candice Nicol, it all started after Calvin was hired to help Candice move out of her home.

“He helped me move out and I got all my stuff and it was amazing, then afterward he was like, ‘so if you ever want to go for a steak sandwich or something. I didn’t do it at first it was maybe three weeks later and I was like, ‘okay we can try this and I didn’t expect much,”’ Nicol said.

That was four weeks ago, and the couple has been going strong, appreciating the more subtle date nights at every turn.

“We’ve had fires in the backyard, we just take walks and go for bike rides, stuff like that,” Nicol said.

And while traditional date settings were more difficult to come by, a common thread for both couples was the strengthening they experienced in their relationship

“It was a huge blessing because people don’t get that because people have busy times and busy lives and we got to take that moment to just relax and reveal ourselves to someone, without the busyness of life,” Thomas said.

In fact, for Krystin and Parkor, they wouldn’t have changed a thing, even with the lack of physical touch and intimacy throughout much of their time dating.

“It actually gave us this little space to not{touch}. We literally couldn’t focus on that physical connection at all in any way.” Thomas said, adding that when they felt comfortable enough to hold hands and hug, it made the moment all the more special.

As for advice for those seeking a relationship during the pandemic, and the couples say hope is a really important aspect.

“If you are patient and trust in this process someone will come along and it will be good,” Carroll said.

The couples continue to focus on their relationship with Krystin and Parkor tying the knot in August, demonstrating that love can happen even in the most unimaginable circumstances.