Revision of Dating Milestones for those 50+

/ Laura Lee Carter

I wrote this in 2016 and our marriage just keeps getting better!

Have you seen this old survey about dating milestones?

When should you first kiss? How about holding hands or meeting the parents? I love this stuff! They say kissing comes first and way before holding hands, and you should wait to meet the parents for at least six months! Five months before even mentioning the words “I love you.”

I’d like to propose the express version for those past age 50. Mike and I kissed on our first date, of course! After ten hours of talking non-stop, it was time to check out the chemistry. Few realize how important smell is in bonding with another. If things don’t smell right you’re sunk! Not to mention the general feel of getting up-close and personal.

News flash, we were head-over-heels in love almost immediately. Neither one of us had ever met another person we could relate to so easily!

So I met Mike’s dad within a week or so. He wasn’t the coolest dude I had ever met, but it was fine. He met my parents within three months. We took a road trip down to New Mexico and had a GREAT time together! Luckily he checked out with my parents.

Our wedding was also a bit of a rush job, partially because Mike’s dad was quite ill by then. We decided to get engaged in seven months and married in eight. I have to laugh at those brides on “Say YES to the Dress” who plan their weddings for a year or two. We had a couple weeks to organize it all, and it was still perfect in our eyes!

This year we will celebrate eleven years of marriage, and yes, our first impressions were correct. We still relate so well it scares us sometimes.

When it comes to falling in love and marriage at any age, I can highly recommend this great line from “When Harry Met Sally”

Laura and Mike Wedding Day 2005“When you finally meet the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, you want the rest of your life to begin as soon as possible!”

19 thoughts on “Revision of Dating Milestones for those 50+”

  9. Yow! Who came up with those rules? I knew his family before I met him. We kissed on the second date. Engaged after dating for three months. Married five months after that first date and now married 41-plus years. I think success in marriage is not how long you dated or when you first kissed or met your future in-laws. I think it depends on whether you care more about your spouse than you do yourself. Both of you.
    And humour. A great sense of humour.
    My Dad gave us some great advice. “Don’t sweat the small stuff. And almost everything is small stuff.”

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  11. What a wonderful story! And that quote is so true. Rob and I knew within the first hour of our first date that we would be together forever. Sometimes you just know.

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  13. I love your story because James and I were one of those love stories! He never ceased to take my breath away. If he hadn’t died, unexpectedly, you and I might be neighbors. On one of your posts I mentioned that we loved that part of the world and had a realtor show us around. We even took another trip to check it out again. xoxox, Brenda

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