Does Age Really Matter in a Relationship?

Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas are 25 years apart in age. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are 16 years apart. Jay-Z and Beyonce have 12 years between them, and 21 years separate Annette Bening from Warren Beatty.

For these Hollywood couples, age is just a number. And as someone who married a man eight years my senior, I believe you’re only as old as you feel. Sure, there are times when my husband makes references to the 1970s and I have to remind him I wasn’t alive in that decade. But as far as two people go — we couldn’t be more compatible.

Putting an age range on potential partners is limiting. If you made a rule saying you won’t date someone younger than 25 or older than 40, you’re missing out on millions of potential soul mates. It’s like saying you’ll never date someone who watches NASCAR, listens to country music or drinks beer from a can.

All relationships take work. The only difference in a relationship where one partner is significantly older and the other significantly younger is just that — sometimes you need to remind each other a simple quarrel or disagreement is because of the years that separate you two.

“Whether you’re two days, two years or two

decades apart, age is just a number.”

One of my friends in South Florida is 34 and she’s married to a man nearly 50. While they have two kids, there are still times when she wants to go out to the bars and let loose. He doesn’t, saying, “I’m too old for that.” Instead of getting on his case or begging him to do something he doesn’t want to, she goes out dancing with her sisters and girlfriends.

In my own relationship, sometimes my husband will forget I’m nearly a decade younger than him. There are times when I feel I don’t have as much “real world” experience. When we had a child, he was a pro at changing diapers and cradling her to sleep. He had done it for his friends’ kids. None of my friends have had babies yet. I had to remind him of this.

Whether you’re two days, two years or two decades apart, age is just a number. He may not know the hip new bands or young fashion designers, while you have no clue what a floppy disk or rotary phone is. Concentrate on your similarities not your differences and laugh at the rest.