Love in Old Age is Even Better
By Valerie Johnston; Originally published here.
Valerie Johnston is a health and fitness writer located in East Texas. With ambitions of one day running a marathon, writing for Healthline.com ensures she keeps up-to-date on all of the latest health and fitness news.
As Valentine’s Day approaches, we are reminded that love, like hope, springs eternal. It knows no age limits, no retirement dates, no physical or mental infirmities. Indeed, most who have lived and loved long enough would say it only gets better with age. Read on to learn more about the benefits of love in old age.
Our youth-obsessed culture pays little attention to the love affairs of the elderly and certainly doesn’t champion them. But they’re there, they’re more meaningful and committed than anything the passion of youth can create, and they show the rest of us how it should be done. Here are some of the benefits of love in old age.
1. All the Time in the World
You’re retired, you’re living together, you know each other. You can do anything you want together (within your budget, of course). Travel together to the places you wanted to see when you were young. Learn games you passed up over the years. Watch all the classic love stories you never got around to.
2. No Time Wasted on the Games of Youth
Dating in youth is all about sex and ego. You’ve lived through that and put it behind you (well, not all of it, hopefully, but the annoying parts). Courtship and relationship in old age are about what they’re about: love and companionship. You’re with the person you’re with, or will end up with the person you’ve just met, because he or she is right for you, not because you’re climbing the dating ladder or worried about starting a family or trying to make the parents proud.
3. The Sex Can Be Even Better
Young people express disgust at the thought of elderly sex, but only the elderly know what the young are missing. You’ve had decades to learn what you like, you’re comfortable with your body, and you’re not afraid to communicate in bed. Yes, Virginia, senior citizens have sex, and it can be among the best of their lives.
4. New Love Can Make You Young Again
There’s nothing like the feeling of falling in love all over again after 70. It’s a reminder that anything is possible, that new beginnings are all around us, and that there’s still someone for everyone.
5. The Anniversaries
Every anniversary is important, but each one gets a little more meaningful as time passes. When you’ve been married 50 years, your anniversary becomes more than a personal milestone: It becomes a major family celebration. The length of time a couple spends together doesn’t always equate to love, but if you’ve made it to old age together, odds are pretty good you’re the real thing.
6. The Stories
Young lovers have gossip. You have narrative. If you’ve been together since you were young, you’ll be able to entertain your children and grandchildren with endless stories of the lives you’ve lived together. Even if you’re just starting out on a new relationship with a fellow senior, you’ll be writing grand adventures made that much better by the wisdom of the living and the telling.
7. The Family
If you’re a couple who raised a family together, well, you have a family to show for it. What 20-something hotties can point to multiple generations and say, “We made that?” Love is about consequences – lives made better, hearts and minds healed, circumstances improved. And there’s no better end result than a family that loves you back.
In the eyes of the popular media, love is all about youth: sex, glamour and no wrinkles. But to those with age, love is all about wisdom. Whether a love affair is born anew in assisted living or has endured for a lifetime, the years only add to the experience.
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