We love our parents' 26-year age gap, even if our dad gets mistaken as grandpa

The five children of parents with a 26-year age gap have spoken out about growing up with a much older father.

Allison and Ben Hornsby’s relationship recently made headlines after the pair revealed their love was still going strong following their 20th wedding anniversary.

Now, triplets Benjamin, Noah, and Ethan, 19, and twins Mia and Jude, 16, have shared their opinion, as well as their experiences of negativity from friends, teachers and other adults.

‘It’s cool and unique, I love it. I am happy with who my parents are and I wouldn’t want it any other way,’ said Benjamin.

‘On occasion, somebody would ask about my dad’s age or if he was my grandad, but it was never an issue.’

Jude added: ‘I’ve never really thought it was weird or questioned it, mostly because it was like that for so long.

‘It hasn’t bothered me either because it never really processed in my mind how big the difference is.’

Meeting in 1998 in a pawn shop, Allison, 45, and Ben, 71, instantly fell in love, moving to Florida to begin their life together.

The couple got married in 2002, before growing their family in 2003 with the arrival of Benjamin, Noah and Ethan, and welcoming Mia and Jude three years later.

Allison, who runs the Instagram account @‌Starrynight1951 with Ben, commented: ‘Our age gap has always been natural to our children. We have raised our children to be inclusive and embrace differences.

‘We answer questions as they come up but our children understand we were both consenting adults when we met and started our relationship.

‘We are also honest with them about our age gap. They understand not everyone approves of age gap relationships. They also know we love each other and that’s what matters.’

Despite accepting the love of their parents, the siblings often experience crude comments and questions from nosy people.

Ethan said: ‘Some of the negative comments that I have received were from the teachers and students, asking “Why did your mum marry him? Isn’t he too old to be your dad?”

‘Some of the comments that I got from my classmates were “Is that your grandad?” or “That’s pretty awesome that your dad is older.”’

Yet for the majority of their lives the children have been unaffected, choosing not to take notice of any detractors.

‘I think that the age gap is cool because I get knowledge from two generations instead of one,’ added Ethan.

The family hopes to remove the stigma surrounding age-gap relationships, showing only love matters.

Allison said: ‘We feel like our family is proof that not all age-gap relationships are shallow.

‘We may not fit the traditional image of marriage or parents but that is one of the many things that make our family beautiful and unique.

‘We hope to inspire other families that may be a little different.’

Do you have a story to share?

Get in touch by emailing [email protected].

Source: Read Full Article