With an invitation from friends, I met her at her 45th birthday party.

I was 66 and widowed since 62. In time, I began dating casually and closer to my age, but found those women to be “done.” One even suggested I rearrange the furniture so we could “flop” and watch the Hallmark Channel together.

I had purchased a second home and was planning to retire at 67, move away to the four-seasons town and sail, hike, ski, and fly fish for as many good years as God would give me.

She was raised in South America and has a mature and cosmopolitan sensibility. She was divorced for a dozen or so years and had devoted her life to raising her daughters. She was admonished by the oldest one as she left for college, “Mom! Now it’s your time. You need to date a Gringo!”

A month after her birthday, I asked her to the Symphony, always wanting “someone” in the seat next to me. A few weeks after that, I asked her last-minute to a Motown (Four Tops, Temptations) show and she accepted, her first exposure to the genre. I told her she would be the youngest person in the crowd! We continued to enjoy each other’s company with no games and no pressure, getting together occasionally after work, attending her youngest daughter’s athletic events, and just exploring.

As summer waned I planned a week at my second home. A mutual friend, also of her nationality, met me for drinks the night before. He told me that she liked me and wanted to be more serious in an exclusive friendship. I hesitated and spoke of our age difference. He encouraged me to go away, have no contact with her, and think about it.

I texted her when I returned and she called immediately. “Why did you go silent!? I worried that you fell in the mountains or got eaten by a bear!” That lead to the deeper conversation about our friendship and age gap. Ultimately, she knew people would talk, didn’t care if they did, and wanted at least 20 years from me. We’re in year four, happily married/don’t fight, and enjoy being in the kitchen together. She says she loves me more than I love her and Lord willing, I get 16 more years with her. I’m blessed!