THE Definitive Answer re: Age Difference ...

[Simoni]

Good post, Dan.

[SANDRO43]

Sandro, I am jealous.  I never get anyone younger than 23.  You have something special.  Please tell us the secret.

Phil, I'll let you borrow my navy-blue suit for a photo session, if you'll share the spoils  .

[Simoni]

Ok, I was staying out of this one.... it's so redundant.

But given the fact that some here want to judge what is appropriate for others, consider...

...no one knows how long either partner will live.  The younger one may well die first.  No one can say.

...half of marriages end in failure.  The important thing is that the man and wife are best friends and enjoy doing the same things and have the same goals in life and the same values.  These are more important than the age of either partner.

...Gator has given many examples of age difference couples, and his list was just the tip of the iceberg. Billy Joel's marriage to Christie Brinkley, who was five years younger than him, did not make it.  At age 55, he married 23 year old Katie Lee. They have been happier married now for three years, and Joel jokes that he thinks she is going to keep him around 

...Some say it's different with celebrates.  Of course they can marry and keep a younger woman, they say.  But the reality is that in the condo I live in, virtually ALL the men here are married to women 15 to 25 years younger.  It's the norm.  And most of these marriages started 10 to 20 years ago, and are stronger than ever.  We are enjoying these couples, and doing lots of things with them.

FINALLY...our next American President, Fred Thompson, is married to Jeri, who is TWENTY-FOUR (24) years younger than him!  Who's to say it's wrong?  They have a three year old daughter and a 10 month old son.





 

[jb]

Simoni,

Yeah, but.....  You know me,,, we've met face to face and enjoyed a nice evening with our wives together.  I think you know me to be a reasonable and sensible man,,, or maybe not.

Yes, I've see May / December marriages before as well, however they were usually from within the same culture, same language, and pretty much the same economical strata.  Those men who married outside their economic strata generally were hooked up with gold diggers and those marriages were short term gigs which paid the girl well for her time and services rendered.  'Sway it is...

In the long term successes that I've seen there were longer periods of courtship than we typically see with the older gent going to the FSU and picking out a cute one.  You and your wife are a good example of going the long route, Gator and his Moscow woman have been going on for years now, if they ever culminate at the altar I'd say there is a good chance they have a good idea of what they are doing.

I have no problem with these kinds of age gap relationships, it's the "other" kind, the kind with a whirlwind romance in a foreign place with little, if anything, in common that I find it hard to relate to.  Right after my wife arrived she was immediately sucked into the RW community in Corpus, almost as quickly she was shunned because her husband was her peer in education and relative income, and almost in age.  They saw stability in our house that was lacking in their own homes.  While they were building a "landing strip" for themselves and their wannabe immigrant Russian and Ukrainian relatives, my wife was building a family and a good home in a new country.  She did not share the GCG attitude and certainly didn't look at marriage as a disposable thing "just in case".  Most of those women she initially met 5 years ago are now all divorced and eeking out an existence as a clerk in a convenience store and jealous as hell of my wife's success in the school teacher business.

I just don't know how a man is able to determine if a girl is truly a class act in such a short period of time,,, sure, she might be pretty, but to steal a line from somebody, that beauty is only skin deep.  She may be a total b i t c h beneath all that glamor.  Leaping before you look can be a serious mistake.  Adding the impossible age differences is just throwing gas into the fire.

[Simoni]

Simoni,

Yeah, but.....  You know me,,, we've met face to face and enjoyed a nice evening with our wives together.  I think you know me to be a reasonable and sensible man,,, or maybe not.

Yep, you are a reasonable and sensible man.... one that I respect greatly.  No doubt about it.

In the long term successes that I've seen there were longer periods of courtship than we typically see with the older gent going to the FSU and picking out a cute one.  You and your wife are a good example of going the long route, Gator and his Moscow woman have been going on for years now, if they ever culminate at the altar I'd say there is a good chance they have a good idea of what they are doing.

Guess we are talking apples and oranges here.   I definitely am NOT for short romances and quick marriages.  And the greater the age difference, the longer the courtship should be, IMHO.

My argument was to those who say age differences are bad, no matter what the circumstances.

So looks like we are saying the same thing 

[jb]

Guess we are talking apples and oranges here.

I think I first heard that saying in 7th grade algebra.

No, I'm not talking apples and oranges,,, I'm talking tomatoes and jalapeno peppers.  Making hot salsa here.

All I'm saying is there are people reading here, (who shall go nameless for thread purposes) that are in vastly age difference relationships, and they are, from what I can see, from completely different socioeconomic backgrounds.  What do they have in common?  Culture is different, education commonalities are nonexistent, basic language and communication ability is totally different, his family is from Mars and hers is from Venus, and a whole host of other things they don't share in common.  Yes,,, he's hot for her smooth young flesh, she's hot for a trip to the land of the Big PX.  What are the odds?

I just wonder if his apples will ever make a pie, or her oranges will make juice.  Whatever you like, they don't belong in the same equation.  Seems to me that common sense is not so common after all.

[jb]

Then of course you'll fine the odd love story like this one.

http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=499508