One woman insists that her 27-year age gap with her husband has made her a “better father” thanks to her “adulthood”, even though strangers mistook him for her children’s grandfather.
Gretchen Dillon, 36, from Syracuse, New York, chose to date women before closing her eyes with 63-year-old Michael Dillon at the local grocery store in October 2014.
The couple became friends and soon realized their romantic feelings for each other and started dating in May 2015.
Despite the nearly thirty-year age difference, the couple got married in February 2018 and have now welcomed a six-month-old son, Shannon, together.
Although people often think that Michael is her father and her son’s grandfather, Gretchen does not allow herself to be stopped by the judiciary.
Gretchen Dillon, 36, met her 63-year-old husband, Michael, in 2014 in Syracuse, New York. Despite Gretchen’s friends warning her that Gretchen would be a young widow, they got married in February 2018.
The couple, who started dating in May 2015, welcomed a son named Shannon, who is now six months old.
Market research analyst Gretchen said, “People often mistake my husband for my father, but we laugh about it.
“Once they get to know me and Michael, their perceptions change quickly – they can see we’re making sense.
“My boyfriend tried to stop me from marrying him. He kept saying I would be widowed because he was almost 30 years older than me, but I loved him and I didn’t care.
“When Michael and I first slept together, I was shocked because I didn’t think in my head that I wanted to be with an older man. I stopped for a moment and agreed. Now I am happier than ever before.’
The couple got married in 2018 after Michael Gretchen proposed twice. Gretchen turned down her first Thanksgiving offer of 2017
The couple, who met at a gas station outside a grocery store, soon found themselves meeting and getting along in different parts of the store.
Gretchen had just moved from Pennsylvania to Syracuse, New York, and was grateful to find a friendly face in Michael, an insurance professional.
Michael, two years older than Gretchen’s mother, offered Gretchen a free room and job to help manage her Airbnb in January 2015, and their friendship soon turned into a romance and they started dating in May 2015.
Michael’s friends thought it was weird when he said he was dating a woman 27 years younger than him, but when they met Gretchen, they saw that the couple was a good match.
The new parents live happily ever after with six-month-old Shannon, but Gretchen admits that people often mistake Michael for her son’s grandfather.
“My friends were shocked for a moment, but when they saw how happy I was, their anxiety vanished,” Gretchen said.
Michael posed twice, first in front of his family at their Washington DC home on Thanksgiving 2017.
Gretchen said, “I told him I didn’t want a big show and a ring. He gave me a real diamond stone, not a ring.
I got so angry that he thought he might propose to me for a technical problem that I said no in principle in front of his family.
“The next day I cried all day, we had to talk a lot.
“He offered me a sunrise ski trip to Florida for the second time in December, and I accepted.”
The couple, who had been dating for three and a half years, got married in February 2018 and decided to have a baby.
Michael already has a son and a stepson from a previous relationship but was very excited to be a father again.
“I had a friend who was trying to postpone the wedding and she said, ‘You’re going to be a widow,'” Gretchen said.
“I chose to cut him out of my life.”
Gretchen and Michael were married for three years before getting pregnant in January 2021.
The couple welcomed their first child together in October 2021 and they love being parents to little Shannon.
“Michael was looking forward to being a father again – he already has a son and a stepson from a previous relationship – and I think his age makes him a better father,” Gretchen said.
“He may not be that physically active, but he still likes to play monkey with little Shannon.
Gretchen said that although Michael is not as physically active as he used to be, he still enjoys playing with the little Shannon pictured.
“But it’s more like a grandfather because he’s a lot more patient.”
“People always think I’m Shannon’s grandfather but this just makes me laugh,” Michael said.
“The hardest thing about being an older dad is that Shannon just started kindergarten and brought home a lot of colds and bugs.
A 36-year-old has a much better immune system than a 63-year-old.
‘I’m always cold, it’s so tiring.
“The hardest physical aspect is getting up in the middle of the night, but it’s getting less and less and Shannon is a delight.”
Michael is still young and the couple does not consider the age difference as a determining factor in their relationship.
Gretchen says, “I feel like I’m old and Michael is young. I always tell him to turn off the music.
“I would tell any woman in my position that life is too short to be unhappy. If something feels right, do it.’
Gretchen doesn’t mind being a widower and focuses only on the present.
“No one knows when he’ll be gone,” he said.
Michael said: “I love Gretchen and she takes care of me.
“I am much more stable and mature than I was in my thirties, and that stability and maturity is a comfort to Gretchen.
“There’s nothing wrong with the bedroom part, Gretchen just takes time to recuperate after giving birth.
“The age gap is extremely beneficial for the success of our relationship.”
Source: Daily Mail
