Quote Originally Posted by indysteel View Post
I want to be very deliberate in how I approach the next thirty or more years of my life. I don't want inertia to set in, and I sometimes think having a younger husband will almost compel that.
I totally get this and my husband and I feel the same way (he is only 1 year younger than me but loves pointing it out!).

We feel a bit like we've been living in an ageless bubble for the past 10 years though. We both started second careers in our 30's, met in our 30's, got married at 35 and don't have (or want) children. On top of that, my parents are the only ones surviving and they are quite young for their chronological ages (70 & 71 and still playing regular tennis, golf, bowling, etc). Our only sibling (my brother), also married late, has no children and both he and his wife started second-careers near 30 too (though she is just now 30, so there is time for kids in their future). Without any family children or any obvious ways to gauge time passing (like old-acting parents), we have no idea that time is truly passing! Add to that the oddity that for quite some time, all of our friends were significantly younger than us (ie, those also without children), left us with a weird sense of how old we are.

We are starting to make more friends our own age. Partly because we now live in a place were it is more socially acceptable to be childless by choice and partly because people our own age have children that are 'leaving the nest' now. It's weird, but I still think I'm in my mid-30's and I'm having a hard time learning to adjust to being my own age! Retirement planning, grey hair and age-appropriate friends are forcing me to face reality. Having my annual OB-GYN appointment yesterday was weird. They asked about hot flashes, night sweats, irregular periods and osteoporosis! What?? I'm still too young to worry about that stuff, aren't I?