Dear Ann Landers, You asked your readers for their views on older women marrying younger men and vice versa. I was married for 28 years to a man my own age. He divorced me and married a woman who was younger than our children. Since then, I have dated men of all ages. The older men I went out with seemed to have no sense of humor and very little passion for life. Many wanted a nurse for their old age and treated me like a dumb blonde.
I am now dating a man who is 10 years younger than I am. He is confident and sure of himself. He is not controlling, jealous or condescending. We can be silly and laugh a lot, and we can also engage in serious discussions. Some of my friends assumed the only thing we had in common was sex. Others told me to be careful because younger guys are usually looking for a mother figure.
Nevertheless, anyone who has spent time with us can see that we are well suited to each other. We share the same values and have similar interests. Whether or not anything will come of this, I don't know, but I enjoy his company and think the world of him. With a relationship as solid as ours, age is irrelevant. -- "Older Woman" Out East
Dear Woman, A few years ago, I wrote a book, and one of the chapter titles was "Age Is Only a Number, Baby!" I believed it then, and I believe it now. Some men are old at 25; others are young at 65. It's what goes on between the eyebrows and the hairline and not farther down. Here's more on the subject:
Hi! It's Margo here. I'd love to know what you think of the letters -- and the answers!
Also, any additional thoughts you might have. Thanks!
Reader Comment
If people are truly compatible and fully aware of the possible consequences when one partner reaches "old age" and the other one is still young, I don't see a problem with an older woman marrying a younger man. However, people do need to look at the whole picture, including changes that will occur as you age, especially if the age difference is really extreme.
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Dear Readers, , challenge and bring out the best in us. Here’s something that should get your readers thinking. I cut it out of a local newsletter. -Susan in Miami Dear Susan: Thanks for your kind words and the enclosure. I liked it a lot and want to share it with my readers. Here it is: WAKE UP AND SMELL THE IIIIFEEE! 2 I 'I You Can Bank on It Imagine you had a bank that each morning credited your account with $1,440-with one condition: Whatever part of the $1,440 you had failed to use during the day would be erased from your account, and no balance would be carried over. What would you do? You’d draw out every cent every day and use it to your best advantage. Well, you do have such a bank, and its name is time. Every morning, this bank credits you with 1,440 minutes. And it writes off as forever lost whatever portion you have failed to invest to good purpose.
