Young love gets a lot of attention. But sometimes dating later in life can lead to the most rewarding relationships. Senior dating is a sweet spot.
There’s something to be said for going on a date with someone when you know who you are in life and what you want out of it. Older adults have achieved years of wisdom, and they’re comfortable with who they are. Those on the senior dating scene know what they are looking for in a relationship.
There are no silly games or guessing if he/she likes me or not.
Senior dating done well is simply good old fashioned getting to know each other. Honestly, this is a beautiful thing to appreciate, regardless of your age group.
When you’re Catholic, senior dating can be an even better experience. If both you and your partner are both rooted in a strong faith, that most likely guides your moral compasses in the same direction.
Logging onto Catholic Singles and other online dating sites looking for love later in life? If you haven’t dated a Catholic senior before, there are a few things you can expect when venturing into a new relationship with them.
They like to break bread
We’re not just talking about Mass here.
Sometimes, younger adults may get too nervous to eat in front of their dates. They’re happy just to grab a drink at the local bar. But older people actually enjoy sitting down to and enjoying a meal together.
A large part of senior dating is enjoying someone’s companionship. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are going to be eaten anyway. Often seniors would prefer to share that time with someone they care about and are interested in.
Many senior men and senior women attend daily Mass as part of their weekly routine. A great opportunity to spend time together with these men and women would be to go out for breakfast immediately after Church. Most parishes already have groups for senior citizens who attend social events together and almost every event revolves around sharing a meal of some sort.
Senior dating isn’t typical
As people age, they usually become more comfortable in their own skin and are ready to share day to day life with those that they befriend. This means that senior people can be more honest and authentic on their online dating profile that you read while browsing through dating sites!
Senior dating is going to look different than meeting for a glass of wine for your first date, and a walk in the park for the second.
Chances are, dating someone with a higher age will involve spending time together doing things that either or both of you would be doing anyway.
If you begin dating someone who enjoys going to the local diner for dinner every Friday night, you most likely will find that that is where they would like to meet for an evening out.
Senior dating isn’t about trying to wow someone into a relationship with you. Instead, it’s about coming together as two humans trying to connect and build a relationship together.
A lot of the trying to impress and spending time chasing the person you’re interested in is cut out because seniors usually know what they want out of like and who they would like spending it with.
All your dates don’t have to be faith-based
So you share a common faith (and maybe a common age!) with the person you met through one of many dating sites.
Your faith is the foundation of who you are and all that you believe in. That’s incredible! But it doesn’t mean that your only options for dating will holy hours and rosaries, even if you do find yourself dating like-minded people.
While attending Mass together and praying with one another can be an amazing part of dating when you’re a Catholic senior, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t go out and enjoy doing things together in the secular world. Dating for seniors also can include things like movies, restaurants, hikes, and concerts!
When you are grounded in your Catholic faith, every part of your day can become a prayer, a gift to God. Just being in a good, solid, grounded and faithful relationship where you honor God and each other by living a moral life can be a fulfilling experience.
They may want to keep their faith life private
It’s all the rage these days for young Catholics who are dating to pray together, often in very intimate and deep prayer. College students will meet in the chapel after classes to pray and young adults may be found praying the rosary side by side in the Adoration chapel.
Senior dating can look a bit different when it comes to the faith. Older men and women have lived on their own for some time and have experienced a maturity in their faith. They may not be open to sharing the most intimate parts of their relationship with God.
My aunt, a Catholic divorced over twenty years ago, enjoys the companionship of dating. Theology often comes up in conversations with her potential partners. However, she doesn’t include the men she is dating in her prayer life.
When discussing this, she stated that her faith over the years has become a private conversation between she and God. Her lack of wanting to share the faith outwardly has nothing to do with how much she likes or doesn’t like the person. Rather, it reflects the solo time that she spent with God in between her former marriage and when she began dating again.
If you begin dating older women or men, but find that they aren’t big into sharing their faith outwardly, don’t take it personally!
They will probably want to spend more time in person than online
Let’s face it, our younger generation is obsessed with technology and online dating. While it’s wonderful for many reasons (hey, it brought you here, didn’t it?), chat rooms will never be able to replace good old fashioned face to face contact.
Senior dating often means connecting in person and spending time doing things together on a somewhat daily basis. Whatever your dating schedule entails, plan on most if it being in person together, not on social media or online dating apps.
While dating online is a great way to connect and begin a relationship, senior dating usually moves into the real world, real time connection pretty quickly.
Senior Dating can be a wonderful experience, especially when you are Catholic. Meeting and getting to know someone who shares the same life purpose (growing closer to God) is a gift. Knowing what to expect when entering into the relationship, can help make the transition into dating a little smoother and prepare you for what will hopefully be a long term, even lifetime commitment.
