Breadcatcher,
let me share something personal with you...
I have direct experience with this.
When my sister was 22 years old, she left home to be with a man who was 21 years her elder.
at first the age difference seemed not to bother either of
them. but...
...it infuriated my father which ultimately diminished the father-daughter relationship they once had into something that would never be the same. (this was nearly a decade ago)
my mother and father were both disappointed in my sister, but they were also divided about how big of a deal it was. My father was infuriated... my mother was just a little upset.
in the grand scheme of things in the end there had been many things which had contributed to my parents divorce... however their inability to agree over my sister's dilemma was the final act in a complex play.
in the mean time, my sister discovered that most "normal", level headed 43 year old men get up in the morning, go to work, stay there until 5 or 6pm and come home, when they get home they are interested in food, drink, perhaps a little TV, and then bed (in that order) because they - being "grown ups" tend to repeat this exact same schedule until weekend when they do recreational activities like fishing, or golf, etc.
she also discovered that most 22 year old girls with an attraction to men 21 years their elder have "daddy issues". not only that, but most 22 year old girls want to go out to the club, hop from bar to bar, and show off their new found "teddy bear" until midnight or later every day of the week.
eventually she discovered that even though she liked the guy, and felt that she wanted to be with him... it wasnt what she thought it would be and they split up.
she went through this cylce with a couple of other older men, each progressively older than the last - each "relationship" ending the same way... being based upon the same things.
so.
1. a straight A honor roll student who was set to graduate with honors with a Bachelors Degree at the top of her class at age 22... put her life on hold, dropping out of college for several years to chase some unattainable ideal - something no more than a fantasy to her.
2. her relationship with her traditionalist father was strained to the breaking point.
3. my parents divorced for many reasons... but the straw that broke the camels back being their inability to agree on the issue of their only daughter dropping out of college to marry a man twice her age.
4. My sister spent nearly 6 years of her life learning a valuable lesson the hard way.
i have always had a little thing i like to say...
"God gave man a Brain and a Penis... unfortunately he only gave man enough blood to use one at a time."
if an 18 year old girl showed up at my door confessing her unending and uncontrollable love for me (I'm 30) I would no doubt be excited... and... my erection would no doubt be firm and ready to rock and roll... hell i could probably break boards with it! but I would have to think of all of the consequences of these actions.
and respectfully decline her offer.
