I’m a Millennial Dating a Boomer

Peter is 18 years older than me, and I love this about him.

Most of the time, an age difference is a non-issue, a nonevent. Just kind of a fun little detail that makes us who we are. But I’m not gonna’ lie, it was a sobering moment for both of us when we realized I’m a Millennial dating a Boomer.

It’s only a problem (and problem is too big of a word here) when I miss his pop culture references. But this happens a lot. Let’s just say I keep the smart phone close. Google is a girl’s best friend.

He’ll refer to something in the 70’s or 80’s, the decade before I was born or the one during which I was at most ten years old, and I can tell by the look on his face that the line he just delivered would totally kill with a different audience. Instead, Pete groans at my blank stare. “Babe, half my humor is on the cutting room floor. It would be so much more effective if you knew who I was talking about.”

Out of necessity, he’s now shortened his standard reply to, “Cutting room floor.”

Or even just, “Never mind. Floor. It’s on the floor.”

But fear not, it goes both ways. He rarely tracks my references to Friends or Saved by the Bell.

The boys’ favorite math equations revolve around, “Mom, how old was Peter when you [fill in the blank]?”

Oh, you’d like to know how old he was when I was learning the words to Baby Got Back (which I am still inordinately proud of and have been known to perform in the car because I’m that kind of cool mom)? Peter was thirty. When I was in kindergarten, he was entering the work force. And if I had gone with him to his senior prom? Well, actually we can’t do that visual, since I was still in utero.

These funny little timelines occupy probably too much of our time. It’s really all just silliness.

Here’s what I know for sure and why I’ll never look back: there’s nothing in this world like being loved by a man who knows what he’s doing.

That silver hair is his crown of wisdom.

Peter loves with a fierce tenderness and the intentional mission of a man who’s perfected his game.

There is zero drama in this relationship, because nobody at this table has time for that.

As he says, “Honey, this isn’t my first rodeo. But it’s definitely my last. You’re it for me.”

And that makes me among the happiest, luckiest Millennials this side of Generation X.

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