Life and life's questions

 When we married, the age difference didn't seem to matter that much.  Now, I am 66 and she is 83 and it matters a great deal. Of course, there are the health issues that come with age; I've taken her to the doctor more times than I could count. I've taken her to the emergency room several times too.  And there is the helping around the house.  I now do most of it (she has a cleaning lady so it isn't that bad). She gets injured more often.  A simple trip leads to a broken foot.  And recovery from that means I do more, a lot more.   So, our relationship is very, very lopsided.  I do much more for her than she could ever do for me. And that leads to one of my quirks: I score keep. She does not.  And she has an annoying habit of making me disappear when she sees someone she knows in public, or when she gets a call from someone she likes. This came to a head some time ago when a male friend called her.  She just gushed, glowed..you can ...

 This is the part where I examine my own behavior. I've had female friends all my life, including friends that I did not consider "dates".  I know about the concept of "platonic friend."  But, just what does that mean, and what does it mean for a married man? Since I am interested in the topic of jealousy, I'll talk about MY behavior and not my spouse's.  So, let's turn to social media for a bit, as that is part of my community. People talk about "taken men" responding to women's photos.  And yes, I've crossed the line here and there putting "heart react" and sometimes "heart eyes."  I didn't think of it at the time, but I can't expect my spouse NOT to flirt if I am doing that.   Ok, it has been done to me too, though one of my wife's female friends responded to one of my photos with the word "yum."  I admit that it made me laugh. But what about the selfie taken with a friend? These selfies ...

At about the middle of next March, my wife and I will have been married for 30 years. Of course, we have to make it 2 more weeks, but the actuarial tables say that this is highly likely. Note: we met later in life: she was 53 and I was 36 when we married.    Of course, there have been episodes of jealousy on both sides. On her side, it was more of the "oh no, he might fall in love with someone else and leave me" variety. And there was a time when I worried that she might leave, but that isn't the case anymore.   As you can deduce, I am now 66 and she is 83 and she has many of the issues common to an 83 year old (easier to break bones, needs help with some routine tasks, etc.) and so that means that I have to do far more for her than she does for me. Ok, so far. But this past November, she broke her foot and had to stay off of it as much as possible for a while (walking boot; wheelchair for longer trips). But she went ahead and invited her mentally impaired ad...