I’m Gonna Marry a Mayor

I knew my girlfriend, Nadine, was marriage material when I got COVID. Not because she took care of me, buying me Gatorade and walking my dog so I could sleep for 20-hour stretches, but because of how seriously she took Animal Crossing: New Leaf.

With little more to do than lie down, I knew I’d spend much of my convalescence slaying Bokoblins on my new Switch Lite. So I gave Nadine my old 3DS and New Leaf to pass the time while I rested.

In May 2022, she became the mayor of a virtual town she named Lesbos, after the Greek isle that bore Sappho. We’d been dating for six months. Almost two years later, she still tends her pixelated domain. She delights in repositioning flowers and digging up fossils. She does her best to make everyone happy on Toy Day and memorize their coffee orders. If her favorite villager, Pango, ever leaves, there will be actual mourning.

Neither of us have played New Horizons, but Nadine doesn’t want to upgrade. Word on the street is it’s not as heavy on villager interaction.

At first I thought she was so dedicated to New Leaf out of a sense of duty or anxiety. It turns out she just really cares. She logs in less frequently now, but she’s always happy to pull some weeds and get a vibe check from Isabelle.

It wasn’t just her mayoral skills that clued me into how wonderful Nadine is. She loves to cultivate community IRL, and she’s a considerate, kind partner. But watching her honor a years-long commitment to fake people with no stakes? That sold me.

We moved in together last summer and hope to get engaged this year. If we can swing it, we want to do our honeymoon on Lesbos.