Dating a Younger Man

Sitting at my kitchen table, phone in hand and app store open. I'm debating about resurrecting the Bumble online dating app. I'll give it one more try. A chocolate Adonis graces my screen and I swipe right... we are a match! Since women have to make the first move, I send a message: "Hey handsome." While I wait for a response, I look at his profile. Chocolate (check), 5'11" (check), handsome (check), sexy (check), educated (check), 36 years old... a tad young to my 40 years, but not a huge deal.

We hit it off via messaging and I agree to come to meet him at his home. This is not a strategy that I recommend, and it's not something that I do often. He went to a Historically Black University closely related to the one I went to, historically and by geographic proximity. I guess that gave me a feeling of safety—yet it's still not recommended. We meet; he is more handsome in person and has a healthy/cute level of nervousness around our first encounter. We went to the nearby beach, and just talked. One of the requirements I had for walking on the beach was that he hold my hand. He not only held my hand, he held me... a bonding experience that becomes one of the focal points of our love.

When we get back to his house, we talk at the car before I head home. He looks at my license tag, and says, "OMG you're a Red (member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority)?"

"I am, are you Greek?"

"No, but I almost became a Que (Omega Psi Phi Fraternity). We'll talk about that later, but I have to tell you something. I know that my profile says that I'm 36. I'm actually 25, I will be 26 next week."

My heart stops, my mouth is dry and my eyes can't focus. My brain is going into panic mode! My oldest son is about to be 24! OMG, what am I going to do?! I like him so much already! He assures me that the typo was not intentional, that he is not intimidated by my age, and he actually has a history of dating older women. "Will I hear from you again?"

"Yes, I just need some time to process all of this."

I get in the car and I have soooo many questions for myself like: What are you doing? How can he be mature enough to handle you and everything about you? I was used to turning down younger men with a much smaller age gap. I always wanted these young men to have a fresh start with a younger woman with no children (I have three, ages 24, 17, and 13). This had completely thrown me for a loop. How was I going to tell my friends and family? Would he be embarrassed to take me around his friends? What does he want from me? Am I just a temporary place holder until he finds a young tender? Am I just a MILF to brag to his friends about? HELP!!!