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| Bogie & Becall was one of the very few May-December romances that didn't seem creepy. |
GSL has never been a fan of May-December romances. It strikes me as a crime against nature. GSL has had a number of liaisons with women a decade or so older. This was mostly back when I was in my twenties and thirties and the women were all smart, accomplished, and independent divorcees to whom GSL was a breath of fresh frisky air. The decade+/- age difference preempted any fairytale fantasies making the sitch: Win/Win with no expectations of meeting mother closely followed by white picket fenced home with 2.2 kids. Older women have always been my preference and while I've met numerous charming and attractive young ladies, invariably 3 words into a conversation, GSL assumes his customary avuncular manner of ensuring these girls understand the perils of living in the big city and provides counsel on how to meet their Prince Charming.
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| Cary Grant & Audrey Hepburn in Charade. GSL didn't like this pairing. |
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| ....nor this one with Fred Astaire in Funny Face. |
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| These two look good together. With Peter O'Toole in How to Steal a Million. |
I recently met a charming young lady that had me reconsidering my policy towards much younger women.
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| Frank & Mia. No way in hell was this ever going to work. Frank should have just stepped aside and used his power and influence to help Mia get a good start on life. |
It was during my recent National Guard Annual Training and we were doing some Joint Logistics Training Exercises with a Scottish Regiment up in the Black Hills of South Dakota. I was summoned to the Command Post one night and notified that the following day I would be on a 2 man 'mission' picking up food and taking it 250 miles to one location and back again which would make for a long full day. The very impressive late thirtyish Scottish Officer giving the brief seemed relieved upon meeting me noting how I'd like who she was pairing me with, a 'Private A'...."she's quite petite but will be no trouble at all". It then dawned on me that the fellow I was a late replacement for had a poor reputation with the female soldiers therefore considerably older GSL set minds at ease the day would go without incident.
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| Private A was an eyelash over 5 feet tall and bore a resemblance to Kelly Macdonald who GSL has long had a huge crush on. Even more eerily, Private A's surname is beloved by The Den.. |
The following day at 0600 had standing before me the loveliest creature I've ever laid eyes on. She was quite nervous and understandably so since she'd be driving the biggest truck she'd ever seen on the wrong side of the road with the steering wheel also on the other side. I set about putting her at ease with her becoming comfortable soon thereafter, and for the next 15 hours, we chatted amiably on this and that and with each passing moment the crafty old pro could feel himself becoming quite taken with this enchanting ingenue... against his better judgement. She was curious about what I did and so informed her of my children's book series and I always keep one near at hand as a convenience for fielding inquires. She read the book and heard the backstory about the characters, incidents, etc. At a rest halt, she showed me her entire family in pics on iPhone and she has a large very close happy family she absolutely adores and they obviously adore her. I showed her a pic of me around age 7 as the inspiration for the little boy in my book series. She took this opportunity to finally inquire, indirectly, as to my age and for the first time in my life hated saying how old I was. Being told I don't look 51 was of little consolation and her informing me she was "almost 25" wasn't comforting either. Any romantic notions were further pummeled by discovering I was nearly half dozen years older than her father. A couple hours later, after I had nearly recovered my dignity, and after we discussed rendezvousing in the UK or America (with her parents), she wanted a selfie of the two of us and then seeing us side by side stuck a fork in anything beyond trying to help that lovely girl pursue her dreams and find someone special and worthy of her....near her own age.
 Charlie Chaplin and Oona O'Neill who was the daughter of Playwright and Nobel Laureate Eugene O'Neill. CC was 36 years her senior. |
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Joan Collins & Percy Gibson. Quite an unconventional marriage but they both look happy and nobody's youth
has been stolen.
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All those beautiful people-polished-and-scrubbed-and-puffed-by-other-people! Faces from our pasts, familiar as across the toast, from such casual acquaintance as afforded by a ticket to their realm of the screen. How they linger in our minds.
ReplyDeleteI do admit to being aeons older than Chris---but a sort of August-September, I think. Thirty years this past Tuesday, and too busy with Summer to celebrate. We DID, however, have a surprise visit from our Best Man and his own lifetime Dearie yesterday, on one of their great roamings across the country. They'll be here for breakfast any minute, and there's an immense Decker Melon, cool and sweet and elusive as Goblin Market, awaiting my attention.
So glad you're back!
r
Congratulations on your recent 30th Anniversary Rachel. Nothing wrong with an August-September as historically that was a natural fit for me. I think my 'crime against nature' only applies when the junior partner is quite young and can plea bargained down to a misdemeanor and even be expunged if it yields a long mutually beneficial relationship. After writing this, I did a deep dive into the fascinating Charlie Chaplin (watched 3 movies and read several lengthy articles) who married the 18yo Oona when he was 54. They had 8 children and he referred to it as "perfect love" and their kids said mother was always madly in love with CC.
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