Age difference doesn’t always matter

Personality isn’t defined by your birth date.

Some of us have dated well outside our age range. The rest live by that old code, half your age plus seven. But who came up with that? I’m not sure. Heard it at a bar once. Never since.

When I was 21, I dated someone on the cusp of 33. Unknowingly. We met at a club on New Year’s Eve. Danced. Kissed. He told me he was 25. Gave a convincing performance.

He didn’t even need bar lighting to look younger. I was incredibly attracted to him. Practically magnetized. But after two dates, he called me and confessed his true age. To me, the numbers didn’t matter.

But the lie did. Somewhat.

He could’ve been up front. Instead, he succumbed to insecurity. Fatal. The phone call didn’t feel like a confession. It felt like a breakup, and a signal that he needed time to work through some issues. Those days, I dated widely. But I tried to avoid liars.

We didn’t speak again. Too bad. But look, this isn’t a public shaming. People…