Age gaps in marriage: it’s a fascinating concept, but not altogether new to me. With a 7-year age gap on one side, and a 10-year gap on the other, my four grandparents managed to enjoy a collective 78 years of happy marriage.
But I needed some first-hand information if I was going to come up with a full-length article. So I contacted four couples, who range in age from my parents’ generation to my own. In some of their cases, the wife is older than her husband; in others, the husband is significantly older.
Normally, I request information by email, but this time I tried phone interviews…and I hit a gold mine! Not only did they have real-life insight about age gaps in marriage — but there was so much more: expectations and pursuit, submission and communication, early marriage and late, differences in culture, birth order, and spending styles…
I listened, typed, reported…
And over four hours of conversation later, that one article turned into two.
Talking to Dan & Pari, Dennis & Kristi, Don & Ellie, and Mark & Liz was such a pleasure and privilege: hearing their stories, their interaction (and in some cases, their children), laughing with them, and learning from their God-honoring lives.
Too bad I couldn’t have simply passed the headphones on to you —
but hopefully this is the next best thing.
Elisabeth Adams 