A woman in a relationship with someone 29 years her senior has revealed how his family called her a “gold digger” when they first met.
But they are now going strong seven years later – having even had a child together.
Alyssa Seremet first started dating her 59-year-old husband, Mark, when she was just 23 years old.
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The pair met through social media and soon started talking almost every day.
When they eventually met in person just weeks later, the chemistry was instant – and they are just as loved-up now.
But the 30-year-old content creator reveals that it was a very tough start for the pair, as her partner’s family didn’t agree with the relationship.
“My family is very small and he wasn’t my first large age gap relationship so no one was phased,” Alyssa, from Miami, told What’s The Jam.
“But his family was an entirely different story.
“They made all these assumptions about me and my intentions in our relationship.
“The same presumptions that are always made and will often be made based solely on our age difference.
“Over time they got to know me and I know once they spoke to me and spent time with me they realised I wasn’t some kind of ‘gold digger’ or ‘bimbo’.
The couple each have children from previous relationships.
Mark, a CEO, has a daughter, 25, and son, 27, [not named for privacy reasons] while Alyssa is mum to Mel, 17, and Ziya, 11.
She said: “His ex-wife and his older kids saw how deeply I cared for his youngest.
“Once you see someone love your little sister or daughter as their own I imagine it’s hard to paint them as some sort of vapid selfish monster.”
In 2022, the couple welcomed their first child together: Keanu.
But their relationship hasn’t come without criticism from the public and people online.
She said: “Criticism and judgment from society has never bothered me because I found very early on that happy people don’t judge.
“The people who spew hate or shoot dirty looks are often being triggered by something that they lack or hate in themselves.
“For example; someone who is personally angered by seeing my husband and I out for dinner together is either unhappily single or in a relationship that they hate.
“Misery enjoys company and I’d be damned if I let them have mine.”
Alyssa, who also owns a fashion line, believes that being with an older man has taught her more than dating someone her own age.
She said: “Something I’ve learned from being with Mark is that it’s never too late to start.
“My husband has been through so many rollercoasters in life, there were times where he had to work his way back up from nothing and he did.
“Another thing I learned was about my own potential.
“I was given the opportunity to manage two different departments of his company before having our son.
“It was a big deal for me – a high school drop-out and teen mom – to have an opportunity like that in the corporate world.
“Looking back I am still so proud of myself for all of the improvements I was able to make because it helped me gain the respect of his business partners on a deeper level.”
She also says being in a relationship with someone who is constantly open to self-improvement has been an “incredible thing to witness.”
Alyssa added: “It really makes me appreciate time differently.
“In this society where women want to be forever 21 and are afraid of ageing, I always feel like I have a long way to go.
“I look forward to becoming this radiant older woman one day.
“He pours love onto me every day and believes in every silly idea I have.
“Love is such a complex but beautiful thing but that’s just because all human relationships are complex but beautiful.
“What are we under our skin but souls that found each other?”
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