[This message has been edited by Hiker]
While I was sitting in the Colombian Consulate in Houston, I was chatting with a Colombian woman and her 17 year old son. She was explaining to me that I do not need a visa to visit Colombia. I told her thanks, but I had already visited the country many times and I was at the Consulate to request a marriage visa to allow me to get married in Colombia. The woman then asked me many questions of what I perceived the differences to be between the Latin and American woman and related issues. The lady asked me if it was ok to ask the age difference between me and the girl I will marry. I said no problem, and I told her I was 45 and the woman I will marry is 35. Then I learned why she asked. She said that her husband is American and was working for an oil company when she met him. She said he was 45 and she was 23. She told me she was ready to get married and was looking for a man and not a boy. She said that now she is 46. She said that at any point of her marriage she would have done it again. She told me her reason for asking was that people in this country has a hard time dealing with the age difference. She said she remembered how his family and friends told him she would leave him within two years. She said she worked hard to ensure her husband maintained a high level of confidence that it would never happen. She said she knew in her heart the day she married him that she would never leave him or cheat on him, but that she had a lot to overcome because of the words of others.
For me personally I hit my limit marrying someone 10 years younger than me, but I know this topic comes up from time to time so I thought I would pass this story along. I might also add that I can only hope my wife looks that good in a pair of jeans when she hits 46.
On another note, today while browsing through here I ran across a thread that alluded to the only reason a girl leaves Colombia to marry a gringo is for economic reasons. For those of you who are thinking about going to another country but have not decided, don’t let this sway you. Of course there are girls who would leave all for economic reasons. That is true with many women. Look in this country. Do you ever see an old ugly woman driving a new corvette? If you do she bought it herself. Watch the reality shows on TV and you can she that many women are for sale. BUT this does not mean every woman has this outlook. On the flip side you can also see women taken for every dime they have because they thought the guy loved them. The girl I will marry in Colombia this month, has a car, a good job, a very nice home, and some very solid friends. She is 35, never married and no kids. We had a very long conversation one night about our reasoning for why we are doing what we are doing. She told me hers was very simple. She said that she refused to live like her sisters, and like her mother in her earlier years. She said she had no illusions of finding a man there who would be faithful to her and honor their bed. She told me she wanted to have a faithful home. She told me that if I can love only her and treat her as my best friend, then no man will be loved more or treated better than me. And I believe her.
