I’m a 40 year old (almost 41) woman who decided to throw my hat in the dating game after a number of not so wonderful relationships. I got on Bumble and matched with a number of men, but one in particular stood out. He was a 26 year old pharmacy student earning his doctorate. He had a wonderful, articulate biography, and we spent a couple days talking on Bumble before I gave him my number (something I never do).

It took him about 2 weeks to formally ask me out on a date (after I told him that I wouldn’t be the one to ask 😂) and did so in the most gentlemanly and lovely manner I’ve ever experienced. He was even more lovely in person than over text. He didn’t try to make any moves, didn’t do anything except shake my hand when I first met him at the restaurant, and only when I offered a hug did he oblige. Living in Los Angeles, this is such a breath of fresh air when dealing with men.

We met in June of this year. I worked as a litigation paralegal and work very long hours. He is so understanding of my work hours, and often offers to stop by my places and do chores and errands for me when his time permits. He is the only guy that has ever made me laugh out loud over text, someone that is so respectful and mindful of my time and boundaries, but the icing on the cake was when he jokingly said I could track his location on my phone so we could always “feel connected.”

Everything feels so whimsical, but sometimes at night I lay in bed and wonder if it’s tenable for me to expect to actually be able to sustain a relationship with someone so young. He’s young and just figuring himself out, in graduate school, has the most lovely head of hair, and eyebrows, and I’m an almost 41 year old woman who is a bit on the heavier side, watches Bravo and Sex & The City, and nowhere near as attractive as women his age in Los Angeles.

He’s been everything I could ever want in a man. But have any of you walked down this path? Will things change? What are your experiences?