True Romance: Cougar Talks Dating Younger Men, Man's Fiancee Helps His Dad Love Again & A Reader Submission
It's that time of the week again, it's Thursday afternoon and that means the latest edition of True Romance With SeanJo is here to help get your mind right before firing up the lawnmowers. A little romance to set the mood before laying stripes.
If you missed last week's, I recommend going back and reading it.
We had a reader submission, and a possible throuple in the making, with a guy who married two women who were once close friends that he went to high school with. The potential there for romance and drama is off the charts.
This week we're going to take a look at a proud cougar who finds love dating younger men. We'll take a look at the romance found through cheating and another reader submission - I hope you're a believer in love at first purchase.
Remember I want to hear from you. If you have a true romance story you want to share or if you want to comment on anything, send them my way at sean.joseph@outkick.com.
1 in 3 people wouldn't marry their spouse again
So much for no regrets. There are apparently a lot of married people walking around who are completely miserable and wouldn't walk down the aisle again with the person they decided to marry if they were given the chance to go back in time.
OutKick's very own Mike Gunzelman wrote about it a few days ago. Analysis of the responses in a viral Reddit thread revealed that 1 in 3 people wouldn't marry their spouse again. 1 in 3? That's insane.
The thread included responses like this one which shed some light on what has gone wrong. It reads, "No way in hell. Been married nearly 18 years, (43F, 44M) If I knew he was going to need me to be his mother & fail to keep a decent job & gain 100lbs I would've run for the hills."
1 in 3 people wouldn't marry their spouse again. (Image Credit: Getty)
Something tells me the street of misery is two-way in that particular relationship. What happened to in good times and bad and all of that lip service?
Another miserable wife added, "No! 20 years now and he has stolen a lot of joy from me."
Has he now? Let me guess, he likes to watch football on Sundays with the guys, and he won't go apple picking with you. Sounds tough.
The 1 in 3 number sounds high, but it's likely a lot of the person I married is now older and has changed. No kidding, that happens to everyone, and you would be unhappily married no matter who you exchanged vows with.
To me, there's a ton of unrealistic expectations that aren't being met here. I could be way off base. Let me know what you think and, by all means, if you're among the 1 in 3 who wouldn’t marry your spouse again, fire away sean.joseph@outkick.com.
Proud cougar talks about dating younger men
Let's take a break from misery for a minute and get into how a 50-year-old grandmother from Utah finds love. No, she's not on an app for people in their 50s looking to connect. She's out on the prowl.
Her name is Tara, aka the "CEO of Cougar Watch," and she's a proud cougar who dates men that are her sons' age. However, she warns that her romantic interests are "not for the faint of heart."
You see, being a proud cougar isn't all fun and games. It's mostly fun and games, but there are some things that those who are weighing getting into the game must know.
Things Tara wishes she had known beforehand. So she's out letting the cougars in waiting know what to look for when dating younger men.
"Things I wish I knew before becoming a guru. You gotta keep this lifestyle on the down low because it just gets weird when you have kids the same age as the people you're dating. You know, it's just a little weird," Tara said.
"If your son has friends about the age of the guys you date, they will find you. For instance, I'm 50 and the last one I had was 25, and my sons are 30 and 24," she continued.
"Also, make sure when you're in yoga classes with other moms your age, that you're not dating any of their sons."
There you have it from the CEO of Cougar Watch herself. There's romance to be had if you're willing to work for it. So you're a little older and things didn't work out for whatever reason with your husband. Life isn't over.
Man's fiancee cheated on him with his dad
This next touching story is the perfect example of life not being over as long as you're above ground. It sounds like a story of betrayal and love lost, but that's only half of the story.
A man found out recently that his fiancee and his dad were sleeping together. The man says that his mom died four years ago and that he and his now ex would regularly visit him for dinner.
After one of the meals, his dad and fiancee revealed that they had been carrying on a three-month affair behind his back. The man explained, according to The Mirror, "My dad invited us over to dinner and then after dinner they told me they needed to talk to me, which was odd."
Man's fiancee cheated on him with his dad. (Image Credit: Getty)
"Turns out they have had a sexual relationship for over three months. Being a moron, I asked how many times. I was starting to hyperventilate at that point and they were both reluctant to share that."
Does the amount of times they slept together matter? That wouldn't have been one of my first questions, but the number eventually came out, and he demanded that his fiancee return his apartment key.
There was no talking about this on the way home. He was done with both of them. He continued, "I told my dad you want her, you can keep her. You are both finished with me."
He went home, packed her things up and let her know she could come get them. She sent her mom instead and that's when he cut ties with them both.
"My dad and ex-fiancee have been texting and calling me for the last week. I've not responded or answered any of their calls and my dad even called the cops because he was worried I might hurt myself," the man said.
"Oh jeez, thanks for the concern for my mental health, dad. Maybe you should have considered that before f***ing my fiancee."
That's a valid point. In any case, officers arrived to check on him, and he had to explain why he wasn't answering any calls from his old man.
"The look of pity from the officers made me feel worse. I felt just ashamed having to tell these two guys that. I'm not sure why I felt shame but I did."
That's a tough situation any way you slice it. You don't want someone you're planning to marry cheat on you with a family member. But if it was going to happen I can't think of a better situation.
He obviously isn't able to see this right now, but hopefully one day he does. He helped his dad be able to love again after the death of his mother. That's a gift.
It didn't have to cost him his fiancee, but it did, and in doing so, his dad did him a favor as well. Who wants to marry someone who would sleep with your dad?
A crisis was averted before she got a chance to claim half of his stuff. You could blame dad if you want, but I don't think this is on him. It's a true romance win-win.
A win-win that we can only hope this guy realizes one day. Dad is able to love again, and his son didn't marry a woman who would sleep with almost anyone. That will thaw the coldest of hearts right there.
My True Romance Story
• Jim from Kansas:
I was almost 2 years removed from graduating high school (1983), going to a State University and came back to my hometown for a weekend to hangout with friends.
I happened to go to the local mall with a buddy and was browsing some hipster clothing store when this gorgeous brunette employee comes over and starts handing me clothing she thinks I should try on (obviously working on commission).
One of the items was a two-tone tan/grey jacket with zip off sleeves (80's am I right?) and I decide, after much encouragement from her, to buy it. While checking out I couldn't stop staring at her beautiful eyes, and I asked her right then & there if she would go to a movie with me sometime.
Flustered, she accidentally tore my receipt in half but laughingly agreed to my request that she now owed me the date since she tore my receipt in half. 4 weeks later I proposed, she said yes and 10 months later (no, not pregnant) we were married. 39 years later we are still going strong. We have 3 wonderful kids.
Mostly great times with some tough times sprinkled in here and there. She still has the same beautiful eyes and I still have that coat that brought us together! Ain't true love grand!
SeanJo:
Wow, talk about finding love in the fast lane. A chance encounter at a hipster clothing store with an employee with beautiful eyes turned into this guy's wife in less than a year and that was 39 years ago.
Jim was evidently walking through life at that time, much as I was when this column found me, keeping his heart open and letting love find him. Incredible story.
Congratulations to Jim and the gorgeous brunette with beautiful eyes who sold him one of the most 80s jackets of all-time on 39 years. That's all I've got this week.
Let me know what you think about any of these tales of true romance and send any of your own that you'd like to share to sean.joseph@outkick.com.