Personally speaking, I doubt I could ever date anyone older or younger to me by over 5 years. But on that same token, I don’t think I could judge others who find partners who have much bigger age gaps than them.

When I was growing up, I had an aunt who married a man who was over 35 years older than her. He was older than my grandma. But their marriage was long and happy. She was well into her 30s when they first met and he was a childless widower. Both of them were of similar social backgrounds and had independent careers until my uncle’s retirement. While the age gap was acknowledged and sometimes even joked about among our family, he was a very nice man who always visited and never missed any family occasions. It was clear that there was a real genuine connection there.

I guess perhaps because of that, I saw firsthand that there can be functional, even loving relationships between people with large age differences without any of the negative connotations they usually carry. The older party is not always a groomer or a predator, the younger party is not always a victim or a gold digger.

Of course, as I mentioned in the title, even I would only be more open minded about relationships like this if both parties are already adults before they first meet as well as other factors like not having children if one party is too old, being of equal financial status etc. If both parties are consenting adults and there is a clear element of love or companionship over any sort of material gain, I see nothing wrong with such relationships