Patrick Bennet 
As a saying goes, nothing real can be threatened. People nowadays realize that most stereotypes are formed by the suppressed thinking of past cultural and political norms. However, these two show us that nothing can go on the way of love.
19-year-old Selma Teichmann is a student from Munden, Germany. A year ago, while working, she met co-worker Maik Lier. The man was fascinated by the student, and he fell in love with her at first sight.
There’s nothing unusual about the situation so far, except for the fact that Maik is 52 years of age.
Soon after their first meeting, Selma received a friend request from Maik on Facebook, which she accepted, unaware of what would happen later.
Selma shares their story, explaining that Maik started to send her messages. At first, it was a simple chat between co-workers. The student even revealed that she ignored Maik at the beginning. However, day after day, similarities between them started to attract one another’s attention.
When Selma found out Maik was 52, she started to question their burgeoning affair, holding back how she really felt. In her own words, she was not ready to admit how she felt to herself. But Maik was determent enough; after some time, he found the path to her heart.
Soon, they found themselves communicating about everything —but what really made them fall in love with one other was how similar they think.
Three months later, they finally met each other; since then, they have been inseparable, both feeling as if they met their soulmate.
Both being an artsy type of person, they genuinely enjoy each other’s company, and they talk about and listen to the same sort of music. Selma reveals they both are interested in drawing and think alike, speaking the “same language”.
However, even when today’s society has become as open as it is, such an age difference cannot go unnoticed. Selma has shared that her family is extremely disapproving of their relationship.
Being afraid of the Selma’s family’s reaction, the pair was forced to hide their relationship for 6 months, trying to figure out a solution to their problem as they did so. The whole time, Selma was concerned whether her parents would accept their relationship. At a certain point, the truth started to come to light, forcing Selma to have a talk with her mother.
Not only did the family reject the whole thing, but also they tried to keep Selma apart from Maik. Selma decided to move in with him—as she can’t live without him—even if it meant she’d have a less-than-ideal connection with her parents.
Living alone and having no contact with his family, Maik was more than happy to accept his girlfriend into his home. Fortunately for them, at least their friends had no issues with their relationship, and those friends have been tolerant of the age difference.
Maik and Selma are not the only couple out there with a similar age gap. It seems that most couples who experience the same gap struggle to overcome it—as well as show society that happiness is possible in all circumstances, which gives Selma and Maik faith and strength.
Still, for a teenager, it’s quite difficult to accept the fact that she is separated from her family. She even confessed that it is the most difficult part of the whole situation for her to live with, as it has been more than two weeks since she has been able to talk to her parents. Still, for Maik, it is important to reconcile Selma’s family connections, so they are working on doing so.
However, Selma says that their love is stronger than the prejudices, stating that she will not leave him, no matter what her family or anyone else might say. They believe that love is what is important, not age and opinions.
All of the obstacles make their relationship even stronger. They want to set the example that even with such an age gap, love can exist. They want to demonstrate to other people in similar situations that age makes no difference if they believe they belong to one other.
Apparently, nothing can bring Selma and Maik’s relationship down. They truly believe that if it is real love, then it is worth it. They even planning on moving in together, discussing marriage and having kids—being a real family.
They have both learned to ignore the haters. Selma shares that it is not only her family that disapproves of their relationship. They have to put up with strangers’ criticism and looks every day; however, it seems they are handling everything quite well.
Selma stopped noticing people who are likely to insult or reject them as a couple. She shares that men with grey hair are the only ones she registers as attractive, and she has no issues being interested in what she’s interested in. She knows that people have different preferences, and she doesn’t think that there’s anything wrong with that.
All of that said, such hardships in life can only make us realize what we really want and who we are. In that sense, Selma and Maik are quite the example.
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