I dated a man 15 years older, and everyone criticized me. Some said I was a gold digger and had daddy issues, but I loved him.

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Age is an odd topic of conversation. In high school, a year's difference can feel like eons. In college, two or three years are of no consequence. Then, later in life, just as I thought I've escaped the constraints of social expectations, they reared their heads again and told me that a certain age gap is inappropriate.