Love in the time of Covid: Wedding joy for Kenilworth man and his American partner whose love remained strong despite the global pandemic keeping them apart

A Kenilworth man and his American partner who he met online by chance have overcome the added obstacles the Covid-19 pandemic has put on their long-distance relationship by getting married this month.

Mark Bayliss,who has worked at the KIA car showroom and garage in Warwick for 31 years, and Teresa Hucthins, an associate professor in political science at Georgia Highlands College in Atlanta, got married in Rome, Georgia, in the United States on December 20.

They became friends on Twitter in July 2019 due to their mutual love of cars.They kept in touch and Teresa came over to visit Mark for three weeks in December of that year and they spent the Christmas holidays together with days out including visiting Warwick Castle and a tour of the Aston Martin headquarters in Gaydon.

Mark said: "I was just plodding through life and in and out of relationships and I'm getting on a bit now so I was starting to think I might not meet anybody to spend the rest of my life with.

"But now I have a lovely future to look forward to with Teresa.

"I am going to live over there with her - it's a lovely part of the world where she lives and her family are so nice.

"We have finally achieved our ambition to be joined in marriage and are so happy we can now start to plan the rest of our lives together, it’s been some incredibly tough times for us both but we now are on to the next chapter in our lives.

The long-distance relationship, with a distance of more than 4,000 miles and flight time of almost nine hours from England to Georgia, was tested when the Covid-19 pandemic caused the UK to be put into lockdown in March 2020.

Due to this Mark has had to cancel trips to see Teresa in the USA and she has had to do the same when planning to come to England but the couple stayed in touch by texting and calling each other regularly and, in what is becoming a more rare form of communication these days, sent hand written letters to each other by airmail on weekly basis.

Mark said: "It was her idea to do this and it's very traditional.

"I became friends with the postmaster in Warwick, who I would talk to about Teresa when I sent a letter off each week."

Mark will stay in the USA into the the early part of 2022 before he returns to the UK.

He'll be reunited with Teresa in America again in March.

Teresa said: ""It's hard to remain hopeful and optimistic when there is no timeline for when you will see the one you love again.

"There have been so many disappointments, cancelled flights, rebooked flights, and an endless number of plans made and remade.

"We have persevered, though.

"Our daily video calls to one another, messages, and written letters back and forth to each other have helped to keep us strong."