GLENDA, 33, who is originally from Cameroon, moved to the US in 2011 to pursue a college degree. After graduating, she began her career in real estate where she came across real estate company owner, Roy, 68. Despite the 35-year age gap between them Roy started to flirt with Glenda and she fell for his charm straight away. After dating for weeks the pair were head over heels for each other and made it official. Despite their happiness, when they got together Roy was dealing with his own battles: "We met when I had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. I didn't want to take a young, attractive woman through that," he said. "But she said no, her exact words were: 'I'm kinda a ride or die gal'." Although Glenda was committing to Roy, not everyone was happy about this. "Roy is older than my mum," Glenda said. "My mum was 54 years old so she was definitely not having it." The couple are also trying to grow their social media presence and have received judgemental comments online. They have received comments like: 'She's married just for the money', 'When will you start changing diapers' and 'His bank account must be big.' But they disregard the stranger's opinions, Roy explained: "She's a remarkable woman on her own, doesn't need me. We just enrich each other's lives."
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00:00 This is 33-year-old Glenda.
00:03 She fell in love with 68-year-old Roy.
00:07 - My wife is 35 years younger than I am.
00:10 - And when the pair met,
00:11 Roy was dealing with his own battles.
00:14 - We met when I had first been diagnosed
00:16 with prostate cancer.
00:17 I didn't want to take,
00:18 especially a young, attractive woman through that.
00:20 She said no, and her exact words were,
00:22 "I'm kind of a ride-or-die gal."
00:24 - Although Glenda was committing to Roy,
00:27 not everyone was happy about this.
00:29 - Roy's older than my mom.
00:31 My mom is 54 years old,
00:32 so she definitely was not having it.
00:35 - And it's not just family who have their opinions.
00:38 - I get a lot of judgment sometimes being a younger wife.
00:40 When I post a video on TikTok,
00:42 you have a couple of those comments that come in,
00:44 like, "Oh, she's married just for the money.
00:46 "Wait when you start changing diapers."
00:48 His bank account was big.
00:50 - I love you, baby.
00:54 - I love you, too.
00:55 - You're looking good.
00:55 - Yeah.
00:56 - You're looking like a million bucks.
00:57 (Glenda laughs)
00:58 - I'm Roy, I'm 68 years old,
01:00 and this is my lovely, beautiful wife.
01:03 - I am Glenda, I am 33 years old,
01:07 and I did meet Roy when he'd just been diagnosed
01:09 with prostate cancer.
01:10 - The way that we met was professionally through business.
01:13 She reached out to me and wanted to sit down and talk
01:16 because I owned and worked in an insurance company
01:19 and a real estate company,
01:20 and she was doing the same thing.
01:21 So we just wanted to meet and compare notes.
01:23 I realized I was attracted to her immediately.
01:26 After we had our meeting and it started to feel
01:29 a little bit like there was a romantic interest,
01:31 walked outside, she had gotten in her car,
01:34 and I started to get in my car,
01:35 and I thought, "You know, I need to make this very clear
01:37 "what my intentions are."
01:39 So I walked the length of the parking lot,
01:41 tapped on her window, she rolled it down,
01:44 and I said, "I wanna make this very clear
01:46 "that this is my attempt at a first date.
01:49 "I'd like to take you to,"
01:50 and I named a nice restaurant here in Anchorage.
01:52 And I said, "Would you be interested in going?"
01:54 And she said, "Yes, I would."
01:55 So we drove out, we had about a two or three hour
01:58 conversation with a nice dinner,
01:59 and that kinda set the tone for everything.
02:02 So I called that my James Bond moment.
02:05 (dramatic music)
02:06 - The first impression of him was,
02:08 "Wow, he's very funny, he's super confident."
02:11 He just made a joke like, "Oh, am I too old to date you?"
02:13 And I made a joke back and said, "Age is just a number."
02:16 And that's just how we just started
02:18 playing with each other, so I felt good about it.
02:20 - That was when I knew I had a shot
02:22 when she said, "Age is just a number."
02:24 'Cause that's a big number difference.
02:25 - The kind of guys that I'm attracted to,
02:27 to be honest with you, I like guys that are older than me.
02:30 'Cause I feel like they've already lived life,
02:32 they've done all the partying,
02:33 you know, they're just ready to settle down
02:35 or be in a serious relationship.
02:37 And so to me, that's just what I prefer.
02:39 In my culture, I'm from Africa,
02:41 where a man tends to be more older than the wife.
02:44 So to me, the age wasn't really a thing.
02:46 It's like, I know it's a different culture
02:47 than most Western world, and age is a big thing.
02:51 - We've been married for a little over a year.
02:53 So this is called Askago soup.
02:57 It's very spicy.
02:58 Let's see if Roy can handle this.
03:01 - He knows I do not do well with spicy foods,
03:04 and that's not a white boy thing, that's just a Roy thing.
03:07 - This is the soup that's gonna clean you.
03:11 Hmm.
03:14 How do you like the soup?
03:18 - It's good.
03:19 It's definitely, it's definitely spicy.
03:22 - Okay, I need a glass of water, baby, ice water.
03:25 Okay, so that's the snail.
03:26 - Mm, ain't that good?
03:30 It's really good.
03:31 - You gotta chew a lot.
03:33 - Yeah, it's definitely chewy.
03:34 This is the magic soup that's gonna keep Roy
03:39 looking like face, whatever.
03:40 - When I met Glenda, I had just been diagnosed
03:44 with prostate cancer just a short time beforehand.
03:47 There's some questions about, you know,
03:49 your sexuality as a man.
03:51 You know, there's some concern about it.
03:53 I didn't wanna take, especially a young,
03:54 attractive woman, through that.
03:56 She said no, and her exact words were,
03:58 "I'm kind of a ride-or-die gal."
04:00 - I've worked in healthcare for a very long time,
04:02 so it's like anybody that has health conditions
04:05 doesn't mean you're gonna die.
04:06 - So she went through it with me.
04:08 She helped through the whole process
04:09 and helped take care of me.
04:10 To me, it was very clear from the beginning
04:12 that this was a very sincere--
04:13 - And we weren't even married then or anything.
04:15 We were just dating, you know.
04:17 Roy's very realistic, and he always says,
04:20 "Honey, there's gonna be a time I'm gonna age faster,
04:23 "and you have a whole life ahead of you."
04:25 So we do have those conversations,
04:26 but I don't ever sit and think,
04:28 "Oh my God, my husband is older.
04:30 "What will I be 10 years from now?"
04:32 I'm just enjoying my husband at this moment every day
04:35 because we have such great life going on right now.
04:38 - Nice, beautiful view.
04:39 - It is very nice view. - Such a nice view.
04:41 - Exercise is important to me
04:43 'cause not only do I wanna extend my life,
04:45 but I wanna extend the quality of my life,
04:47 so I'm trying to stay in good enough condition
04:49 to where I can still stay very active
04:51 as long as I can during my lifetime.
04:53 So I exercise every day.
04:55 - Okay.
04:58 - Don't you worry, I'll get my sunglasses on.
05:01 - My mom had her own opinion.
05:03 Roy's older than my mom.
05:05 My mom is 54 years old,
05:06 so she definitely was not having it.
05:09 For me personally, I don't consult with family.
05:10 It's the opinion would never matter
05:12 whether they say yes or no.
05:14 It's just, "Okay, that's your opinion."
05:15 - Make this work, baby.
05:17 - But as she gets to know Roy,
05:19 she's gotten to know him in our relationship,
05:21 she feels more comfortable now.
05:22 She's happy for us and she just wants me happy.
05:25 The age gap thing to most of my African friends
05:27 wasn't a thing, but it was mostly
05:29 the interracial relationship.
05:31 And they're like, "How is it like dating a white guy,
05:34 especially an older white guy?"
05:35 And I'm like, "What?"
05:36 It's just like being in a relationship
05:38 with any other person.
05:40 - Babe, you can actually pull long hair, see?
05:42 - I'm beautiful, I'm beautiful.
05:45 - When I post a video on TikTok,
05:46 most of the comments, honestly, are positive comments.
05:49 But you have a couple of those ones that come in
05:52 and throw something in there like,
05:53 "Oh, she's married just for the money.
05:55 Wait when you start changing diapers."
05:57 "Bank account must be big."
05:59 "She's just his dinner meal."
06:00 "Is marrying a grandpa an achievement?"
06:03 And I say, "Yeah, he's a sexy grandpa for sure."
06:05 People tend to have all these stereotypes.
06:09 "Oh, she's coming from Africa,
06:10 it must be for a green cat."
06:12 Well, not for a green cat 'cause I already have
06:13 my ex-girlfriend before I met him.
06:15 "Oh, she's there for the money."
06:16 "It's not real, she's gonna be gone."
06:18 Well, if that was the case,
06:20 I could still take money from my account and be gone.
06:22 I'm still you.
06:23 Most of the comments are very positive.
06:25 You know, people saying,
06:25 "Hey, he looks really good for his age."
06:27 "I can't believe he's that age."
06:28 I have girls sending me messages like,
06:30 "Oh my God, does he have a brother?"
06:31 "Can you hook us up with a white guy?"
06:34 - We know that people can have their opinions,
06:37 they can have their judgment,
06:38 'cause of course there's an age gap there.
06:39 We can't change that.
06:40 - Do I wish that we were closer in age,
06:43 that the age gap was smaller?
06:44 Of course I do.
06:45 It creates a much more opportunity
06:47 for longevity in the relationship.
06:49 But I'm comfortable being my age.
06:51 You know, I tell her,
06:52 if something happened to me tomorrow and I passed away,
06:55 I lived a wonderful life.
06:57 And so I'm very happy with where I'm at.
06:59 - And if somebody has an opinion about it,
07:00 of course they should have opinions about it,
07:03 but they should keep it to themselves.
07:05 And even if they put it out there,
07:06 I just don't care 'cause I don't need that validation.
07:08 - Just understand that words are powerful,
07:12 and that if you don't know a lot,
07:14 you might wanna just hold your judgment
07:16 until you learn a lot more.
07:18 - Right now we're going through an IVF journey
07:20 to have a baby.
07:21 - Maybe two.
07:22 - Maybe two kids, so that'll be very exciting.
07:24 - Oh my goodness, now you're gonna have kids.
07:26 Yep, we are.
07:27 That's the life that we chose to live.
07:29 - He's gonna be one of the oldest father alive.
07:31 - Exactly.
07:32 - He's 70 years old by the time we have our kid.
07:34 - I understand I'll be a much older father,
07:37 but hopefully I'll be around as long as I can,
07:39 and I'll be as important as I can in their life.
07:42 I may not be at 80 throwing a baseball with them,
07:45 but I'll find other ways to help them and be a good father.
07:48 She's a remarkable woman on her own, doesn't need me.
07:52 We just enrich each other's lives,
07:53 at least that's how I feel.
07:54 - Yeah, that's how I feel, so.
07:56 (kissing)
07:58 (silence)
08:00 (silence)
08:02 (silence)
08:04 (silence)
08:06 [BLANK_AUDIO]