My Personal Perspective on Age Gap Relationships

Authored May of 2020: Hmmmmm…I promise this wee snippet is not an attempt to see how many cherished ‘social norms’ I can violate in a single OpEd, but it may very well seem that way.

Background: my wife & I, 48 & 55 respectively, are extremely happy/stable & made the decision in Jan of 2020 to open our marriage [the drivers & justifications are sufficient to merit their own piece of writing]. It was challenging at first, but has leveled out & had a monumentally positive impact on all aspects, emotional, physical, intellectual, of our relationship. We approached “open” from very different sets of goals/wants/needs. She craved the thrills of navigating a new relationship: learning someone inside & out. She has that in someone who I like, consider a friend & trust he will treat her as she deserves to be treated & as I would treat her. She has always been more of a relationship person. For me, I ‘thought’ I was going re-enter the days of heated pursuit & wonton trysts because I believed in the delusion that sex was completely separate & distinct from love/relationships.

Enter my current relationship…which started off, at least this was my shallow intent, as a hook up. We ‘met’ via a popular on line dating site & got into talking, a lot, because my work schedule precluded us from actually meeting. During these conversations, I found myself thinking, there is absolutely no way this woman is as young as she claimed — too intellectually & emotionally mature! Of note, she is also stunning to the level that she…