Hey, what's so wrong with a younger woman being married to a younger man? No one made big a fuss when mid-40s Demi Moore married mid-20s Ashton Kutcher. To coin an old cliche: age is just a number on the calendar, and there's no law in the land that makes it illegal for an older man to take a young wife in marriage. Well, except that cult guy who was married a bunch of 12-year-olds who all lived in his house together, and now he's in a jail cell all by himself.

I must admit that when I was in my teens, I was very prejudiced against young girls my age marrying older men. I recall one unhappy such incident when fresh from Navy boot camp, and a ripe old seadog of 18. I was a gofer at a big Naval training station. My job was delivering mail to different battalion offices. In one was a clerical assistant, a beautiful 17-year-old girl I saw every day on my rounds, and I made sure I hung around a few extra minutes on each visit.

It was wartime, and knowing I'd soon be assigned to a ship, I did my best to hurry up the courting process. It seemed to work perfectly, and we hit it off in grand style. Our romance lasted for five glorious weeks, and when my orders came through, we made our farewells as if following the typical corny Hollywood script. We promised to be true to each other until I came marching home covered with glory, gold braid and medals.

After six months of torrid love correspondence, I received my Dear John. I should have expected it, considering she was such a fantastic beauty in a Navy station crammed with girl-obsessed guys. Certainly I was unhappy that she told me she had met a Navy doctor and the wedding was already planned. But, what really blew my mind was that the guy was in his mid-30s. Yuk! I just couldn't believe a 17-year-old girl would marry such a doddering old man.

In the decades since, and with my own advancing age now very much past my mid-30s, I've come to realize that the Navy doctor was a comparatively young man. Anyhow, if a couple involved are truly in love, their marriage at any age should make no difference at all, especially to nosy, judgmental people who should mind their own damned business.

Oh, incidentally, did I mention that I am 11 years older than my wife, and we've been happily married for nearly 44 years. And, strangely enough, now that we're well into old age, the difference doesn't seem to be so important anymore.

Learn more about this author, Ted Sherman.
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