My question, as someone who's not there yet, is: At this point in your life, how do you let this happen? Your 72 and the (alleged) mistress is 43, for goodness sake. Not only will the family court judge likely agree to his shirt and everything else being taken in the settlement agreement but he's opening himself up to blackmail, strained relations with his own children and other family members, possible litigation from the state authorities, and even a potential lawsuit from the mistress down the road(sexual harrassment). Aside from it being morally wrong, I see a WHOLE lot of downside for just a few seconds of sensual pleasure in this case.
I'm not 72 yet and I'm not a psychologist but I am forty-five and about to finally be 'out there' in the dating pool for the first time since the late 1980s. There's a lot that goes into this. For starters, some guys never tire of the thrill of the chase. It's not the conquest you can't get out of your room fast enough the next morning, it's the pursuit of the chase. I think it was the movie "Moonstruck" where Olympia Dukakis theorized it's because men fear death. I think part of it is the idea that if you're old you're now celibate so - if you have sex you're not old. Someone young enough to be your - well - GRAND daughter (29 years is certainly possible if two generations of 14-year olds had a kid, which is hardly uncommon in the South).
Trump's wife is about that age isn't she?
There's also the fact that the 43-year old gal here pretty much has nothing to lose, not even a reputation.
In my situation, I've already had a mid-40s girl offer to well, you know - and she hasn't even met me. We've corresponded a tad (and that literally freaked ME out, just the opposite of how a young guy usually acts). Why? Well because she doesn't want the last time she fooled around to be - the last time she fooled around. Hey, I don't either (10/23/11 for those wondering why I'm so cranky), but I darn sure ain't just rolling in the hay with anyone just to say I did it, either. (The bizarre thing it seems to me is that now in the mid-40s it's the WOMEN pushing hard to fool around and the guy wanting to take things a little slower).
Plus, there's something sort of 'self-fulfilling' about a guy who has a girl interested in him who is a fraction of his age (I'm obviously excluding the Jared Fogle's of the world). To say nothing of some certain anatomical points that happen as people age.......
So far, I've asked out three gals. The first one was single and pregnant and the second one was/is gay. The third one said yes, as soon as my situation is resolved (and she's my age and never been married, which is its own problem). But back to Bentley.
I think we could examine this ten ways to Tuesday and never know for total certainty why. There's a lot of psychology to it, maybe a little perversion, maybe a lot of insecurity. I'm just really sad. But I'll tell you what'll flip the apple cart - a year ago as my divorce began, I was talking to my Alabama-born mother about it and she said the most shocking thing I ever heard her say - "I should have left your father 25 years ago." They've been married 46 years and she's still regretting she didn't leave.
A lot of folks married fifty years are just existing, they're not 'really' happy. And not to take up for Bentley in any way but I would sorta wonder if the reason he was with a 43-year old was that he and his wife hadn't been together in awhile. I'm told my wife's grandparents didn't consummate the last 30 years of their marriage, meaning they stopped in their mid-40s. I further read that happens to about 1/5 of couples.
A man is still a man regardless of his age.
