I wont lie... when I first came home and told my parents I was seeing an "older man", the room stood a bit still...
"What do you mean "Older", like how MUCH older?" My parents asked
I was 23 at the time and he was 36 ... there was no real beating around the bush about this, so, because I knew was it for me and they were going to have to just accept it, I just owned it, blurted it out...
"He's 36, its only a 13 year difference." I said
I think my parents nearly choked on their dinner.
They just stared at me, almost like waiting for a punch line or for me to say April Fools...
"I love him, and you may not agree with it, but you'll see, were perfect for each other."
After a few moments of silence my dad says "Chels, I am 43...he's only 7 years younger than me"
I said "Yes, I know you're 43, and you got to choose whom you fell in love with...."
My parents tried a few different ways to talk me out of it (before even meeting him). All coming back to the stereotypes of being "weird" or a cradle robber, or people will give you funny looks, blah blah. Continued to try and convince me how "abnormal" this was for people to date this far off their age. It never swayed my decision. It was a tough conversation at first I wont lie. But, once it was out in the open for them to know, I just spoke of it all with absolute normality. I didn't keep it hush for sake their feelings or not talk about him because it made them uncomfortable. No, I did just the opposite. I made sure every day I was around them to bring up at least one great thing about and our relationship we were building together... before long, they realized this was a real thing... and it was gonna take a lot more than complaining about his silly "age number" issue to get rid of him ;)
Why are "same age relationships" "NORMAL"... your normal isn't my normal and my normal isn't your normal... my normal happens to be a bit "abnormal" and 13 years older ;) and I wouldn't have it any other way :)