Day 12: How did you tell your family and friends about your relationship? Were they supportive? What about your partner?

Cat: The night before I met Richard for the first time, I remember telling my mom about him. I was really nervous because my mom is a traditional woman, and I was waiting for her judgment to rain on me about online dating, etc. But she was surprisingly really cool about it! She really had my back the night that Richard and I went out. In retrospect, I’m glad my mom was there when I met Richard.

Throughout our relationship, Richard has made such a great impression on the rest of my family and friends, and all of my friends are actually happy that we’re going so strong. And while a couple of my aunts had silly comments to make about our LDR, I took it all with a grain of salt. One of them has become bitter about love since forever, and the other has been with the same man since high school, never having to deal with distance or any other kind of obstacles. Sometimes, understanding where the negativity comes from is 80% of the battle.

Richard: My mum and I are really close so I did tell her that we were going on a date. I told her how lovely Cat was and she was really happy when I told her that we were in a relationship. They actually met relatively early on, my Mum and I had booked tickets for a band that we like (she’s cool, what can I say), and we all went to a latin american restaurant and they really hit it off. My Grandma really liked the sound of Cat, and I was so glad when they met for the first time at Christmas when she was visiting in London for my graduation. And yes, they hit it off as well!

My best friend Ste was really happy for me when I told him about Cat, and everyone loved Cat whenever we went to parties together. So yes, nothing but good things. 🙂