What's in an age?

I always knew that I would probably date someone just a little older than me. I'm not saying I was going to pull an Anna Nicole Smith and marry a guy that was at least five decades older, but four or five years didn't seem like such a big deal to me. After all, when I was growing up, I spent more time with my two older siblings and their friends, so hanging around an older crowd just became more natural.

My boyfriend is six years older than me, and it has never really been a big deal, to either of us. Of course, I like to tease him that when he was in ninth grade, I was enjoying recess in third grade (I know, weird!), but beyond the occasional jokes, age doesn't matter to either of us.

In fact, it could be a much greater age differencial. But that's a line I probably wouldn't cross — six years, okay. Twenty-six years, not okay. My BF and I are similar in a lot of ways, and in some regards, we are at the same point in our lives. I just don't see that being true if I was in my mid-20's and he was in his late 40's.

At that point, outlooks on life and expectations would appear to be so different. Aside from marriage and children, goals and experiences would probably differ greatly. I watched My Fair Brady with more than a little skeptism — did the 22-year-old Adrienne Curry really think that 49-year-old Chris Knight was going to be able to give her the world, when he's probably developed a been-there, done-that attitude?

I understand you can't help who you fall in love with, but when reality takes over, what do people separated by 30 years really have in common? Or can it possibly last forever?