The college year (yes, that’s right, year):

(Posted by Ron)

Throughout high school I was sure I wanted to go on to college and study medicine. I couldn’t imagine anything more fun or lucrative than being a doctor. I was the first in my family to enter college and that was a fact of some pride to my parents. I received a shock to my system when I entered Marshall University as a freshman intending to follow a pre-med path. College was definitely not high school.  Not having to study in high school meant I never really learned how to study. Subjects that came easily to me before were suddenly challenging and I was not prepared for that challenge. In my first semester as a “college man” I earned a staggering 0.9 average on a 4.0 scale. Something had to change. Read the rest of this entry »

Yes dear.  I’m lighting a match and burning my birth certificate!

(Posted by Ron)

You meet someone who is considerably older or younger than you. There is a spark between you, interest, curiosity, attraction. For these and other reasons you begin to get to know each other and before you know it your interest has turned into something much deeper and you find yourself in an age-gap relationship.

I remember the early days of the relationship between Gayle and me. Aside from the fact that there were tumultuous days at times, most were surprisingly normal. Of course there were some interesting issues because of our age differences, but for the most part the progression of our growth followed patterns similar to the growth of any new relationship.

When we decided to move in together we had problems getting used to having the other person in our space 24/7. Read the rest of this entry »

Because what you are saying is boring Because what I have to say is more important Because I’m an just an a..hole. Because I need help.

(Posted by Ron)

I’ve said before that I never really liked school.  It wasn’t that I did badly, at all.  I was simply bored.  I always had good grades and never seemed to have to work too hard for them.  I had several teachers, however, who were real pains in my … and were constantly after me to behave in class.  I would talk or squirm or just be a bit of a nuisance.  I can still hear Ms. Ward telling me to stop shaking my leg.  It made the entire room vibrate. Read the rest of this entry »

(Posted by Gayle)

Has she lost her mind?  She can’t blog about marriage stinking when she’s writing a blog about successful relationships can she?

Oh yes and I can.  Just read me.  Being a “me inside a “we” stinks sometimes because it makes placing blame so easy!  You’ve got this readily available target at which to take aim.  Said target, a.k.a your spouse/partner, is always in the line of fire.  Who do I see more clearly or often in my life than my dear husband Ron?  Do you hear the sarcasm lacing my question?  Of course you do, but not for the reason you may think. Read the rest of this entry »

And (even unintentional) words can really hurt you!

(Posted by Ron)

Gayle and I don’t often make an issue of our age difference.  This time we did, and didn’t even realize it for quite a while.  The lesson we both learned was that there are times when the words we use can have significant, unintentional age-gap implications.

My dad died at 95 years of age.  Until he broke his hip he remained active.  He and I used to talk about how my siblings would tell him to not do something because he was “too old.”  I remember mom yelling at him to get off the roof when he was in his seventies.  I never felt that way about him. He never seemed “too old” to me.  I knew he was living as he had always lived – with personal freedom.  Read the rest of this entry »