A woman in an age-gap relationship has been forced to deal with trolls who believe her husband to be her dad.
A couple who has an age gap of over thirty years have been trolled online for their relationship while also facing judgment for being an interracial couple.
Roxana Eubanks married into her first serious relationship with Jonathon Eubanks after first meeting at a Christmas party.
The couple’s relationship has proved testing at times, as they’ve been hit with backlash from relatives and online trolls—but they insist they ‘take it in stride’ and don’t let it bother them.
Roxana, a psychologist from St. Charles, Illinois, USA, revealed: “Trolling is inevitable. Online, we get comments from people joking that Jonathan is my father or grandfather, which shows how little they care to understand our relationship.
“In real life, it can be comical – people stare, point, and sometimes even film us.
“We try to take it in stride and not let it get to us.
“We’ve faced judgment from others, both for our age gap and as an interracial couple.
“The anxiety around health and mortality is also a real challenge for me, but it’s something we face together.”
Jonathan and Roxana have been married for the past six years but before that, the pair were actually neighbours in their apartment building and only first met each other during a residential Christmas party.
Roxana approached Jonathan shortly before she was planning on leaving the party.
She recalled that he seemed approachable and was impressed that she was doing a master’s degree.
The relationship then grew and Roxana embarked on her first serious relationship with somebody, while her counterpart had been previously married.
While Jonathan has no concerns about their age gap of 33 years, with him insisting on the pair spending lots of time together, Roxana holds some reservations about the likelihood of outliving her husband.
She stated that those feelings are dealt with by ‘focusing on the present’.
However, despite this, she stated that she always saw herself with an older man – taking influence from her parents who are in an age-gap relationship.
This didn’t stop her parents from having concerns about her relationship choice as according to Roxana, she was threatened to be financially cut off by her family.
With her family being reluctant to accept Roxana’s choice, it led to years of ‘tension and conflict’ which has eventually faded over the years.
Speaking about the struggles and their journey together, Roxana explained: “I always envisioned myself marrying an older man.
“I’ve always been drawn to older partners, and my parents have a smaller age gap in their marriage, so it felt completely normal to me.
“I admit I have more concerns about our longevity than Jonathan does.
“He often reminds me that no one knows how much time they have, regardless of the age gap.
“Still, I can’t ignore the anxiety of knowing I’ll likely outlive him and how different life might look after he’s gone.”
Roxana admitted that she managed those feelings by focusing on the present and cherishing every moment they have together.
She added: “Jonathan’s family embraced me wholeheartedly from the beginning, but my family had a much harder time.
“They were initially very resistant, even threatening to cut me off financially and urging me to end the relationship.
“It led to years of tension and conflict.”
She explained: “Over time, however, they came to see the love and commitment Jonathan and I share, and now we have a close relationship.
“Jonathan’s life experience has given him a level of patience I deeply admire, and his financial stability has brought us opportunities to live life fully.
“Our relationship is a rich, intense human experience.”