Because they became another bridge across our age differences.

(Posted by Ron)

We went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button during the holidays.  It was enjoyable but not necessarily Oscar quality in our opinion.  I like that about Gayle and me.  We have developed very similar tastes in movies, with some exceptions, of course.  Oh, Brother Where Art Thou comes to mind.

I grew up in the era of Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, the Cisco Kid and other cowboys of the forties and fifties.  Saturday serials of The Rocketman were my favorite.  On the rare occasion that one of the heros kissed a girl (horses were ok), I and my friends would groan and hide our eyes.  As I got a little older I graduated to war and detective movies and other masculine offerings of the silver screen.  I did get a little more tolerant of kissing as I passed through puberty.

Gayle grew up on The Sound of Music and My Fair Lady and movies of that genre.  Chick flicks before there was such a label.  I had never seen either of those before we met.  I don’t think she had heard of The Rocketman before she met me.

So what’s the point here?  This is another of those change posts.  However, it required change from both of us.  We had to be willing to accompany each other to movies that we would have never seen had it not been for the other wanting to see it.  I’ve learned that musicals are actually fun.  Gayle has learned that she can enjoy the type of drama and comedy that I like.  Oh Brother Where Art Thou was an exception to that but she said both she and the friend who went with us enjoyed watching me enjoying the film.

This is only one of many ways Gayle and I have bridged our age gap.  We’ve been able to find interests in most everything that each of us enjoys.  I often read that people should avoid age-gap relationships because of significant differences in interests.  I believe those differences can offer opportunities, not roadblocks.  After all, I doubt if I would have seen Benjamin Button grow young without Gayle’s urging.  Now, it’s time for a Kate Winslet movie.