# May/December relationships **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 19, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-december-relationships/613332 "2012-02-19T17:10:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![NGC2024](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f475e1/32.png) [@NGC2024](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NGC2024)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-december-relationships/613332/21 "2012-02-20T23:50:42Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > I should mention another anecdote. > > My great-aunt was a **spinster** until 40, when she married a 60-year-old widower. By the time she was 65 he was still alive and had become a demented tyrant, with her as his elderly full-time carer - and the fucker just would not die. (Before he went demented he gave all our heirlooms, which were in my aunt’s custody, to his children from his prior marriage. Which was nice.) He marred her autumn years and finally popped his clogs when he was 95, much to everyone’s relief, including, I suspect, hers. > > So there’s that sort of situation to consider… 😉 Ouch. At 38 years old and having never been married, I guess I should have understood that I was a spinster. Except that I didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-december-relationships/613332/22 "2012-02-21T00:30:40Z")
To be a little more accurate, 40’s and 50’s is hardly “December”. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-december-relationships/613332/23 "2012-02-21T01:29:39Z")
How about 60? Would that be October? ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-december-relationships/613332/24 "2012-02-21T02:29:13Z")
> [@NGC2024](#): > > Ouch. At 38 years old and having never been married, I guess I should have understood that I was a spinster. Except that I didn’t. I only looked up the defination of “spinster” a couple of months ago. No kids, no husband, only cats to sleep with. Holds fist up proudly. I’ m a spinster 🙂 And to be honest, the only reason I looked it up was because I was looking at documents that referred to the seller of property as “Jane Doe, a spinster woman” ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-december-relationships/613332/25 "2012-02-21T04:16:57Z")
A friend of mine is 22 dating a man who is in his 50s, long-distance. Honestly, the long-distance part is what saves it, and she acknowledges that were she in his sphere, he would easily dominate her and she would become more like a satellite. That’s not about a formula but about their respective positions in their lives. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-december-relationships/613332/26 "2012-02-21T05:23:34Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I really hate this idea that the younger is being exploited, its paternalistic garbage. Agreed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-december-relationships/613332.md?page=1)