HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT MAY-DECEMBER ROMANCES? Age only means something if you let it

I know people talked. I mean, I don’t know for sure, but I know. I know my parents talked, I know my friends talked, I know everyone talked.

I was 27. She was 18. No one thought it was a good idea, no one thought it would last. On two different occasions, I was mistaken for her father.

And yet here we are, nearly 20 years later. (HOLY CRAP IT’S BEEN ALMOST 20 YEARS.) In the beginning, I had a joke when people would give us the eye. Went something like this: “The challenge is maturity,” I’d say to knowing glances. “I hope in a few years I catch up.”

It wasn’t a lie, either. She was more mature than me. Still is. Oh well.

I’ll tell you this, though: I’d recommend a 9-year difference to any dude out there. I got to live my 20s, and then I got to live my 20s again. That’s what it felt like. And even though I’m 46 (HOLY CRAP I’M 46) I still get to pretend to be 37.

I don’t think age should be an issue when it comes to relationships. Whatever works, you know?

Having said that ...

I was recently in the company of a wildly attractive woman who I later found out was 19 years old.

I’m 27 years older than her. For comparison’s sake, my son is only 10 years younger. He’s about as close in age to her as I was to my wife when I first met her. (HOLY CRAP ETC., ETC.)

Now.

Would I date her? (Assuming I was single, obviously.)

The answer is absolutely not, because I’m a public figure and I’m writing this down in print for eternity and don’t want you all to think I’m some kind of perv.

But that would be a lie. Of course I would date her (do people still date? Is that still a thing?) I mean, I’m human. I don’t think she would date me - I’m an ogre with a CPAP machine and a hairy back - but you never know.

Listen: If two people enjoy each other’s company and don’t care what other people have to say, then go for it. Love is a fickle thing, right? Who are we to judge. All I know is if I listened to conventional wisdom some 20 years ago and didn’t embark on a relationship with my future wife, I would’ve made the biggest mistake of my life.

Jeff Edelstein is a columnist for The Trentonian.