A young woman who fell in love with a man more than two times her age has opened up about her unusual relationship.
31-year-old Julia Strauß met the love of her life, a 72-year-old father-of-three named Bernd Hasenbank, back in 2019 at a seminar in Germany. After the two first laid eyes on each other, a spark between them ignited a very special romance that saw the pair become an item.
Though people often mistake them for a father and daughter, Julia and Bernd are not letting anyone, including their families, get in the way of their relationship.
“We got to know each other in a special stillness seminary in April 2019. A few years before, I had this feeling that I would meet a man in his 70s and have a very strong connection,” Julia recalled.
“Leading up to the seminar, I started getting myself in a tizzy and when I sat on a bench at the seminar and watched everyone come through, I saw Bernd come in and sit down next to me and it was as if I knew him from a past life. Over the weekend of the seminar, it was clear there was something there and we connected.”
After kicking off their relationship, the couple with a 41-year age gap faced difficulties following Bernd’s apartment catching on fire. Though the pair remained close to each other, they were forced to live a nomadic lifestyle until the apartment was inhabitable once more.
As they were ready to move back in, however, Julia met a new man at her work, prompting her to end her relationship with Bernd. In just two months, however, she was already back in the 72-year-old’s arms with the two becoming closer than ever before.
Speaking of his love for Julia, Bernd admitted he was initially attracted to her physical appearance. “Her physical appearance attracted me a lot at first but things soon got much deeper than that, and I discovered a wide field of inner beauty,” he said.
Meanwhile, Julia branded her partner a “wonderful lover” and described her life with him as “a special romantic science fiction poem from the ‘70s with lots of music.”
“I love the deep way he can understand me, sometimes better than I understand myself. I love the way he lets me feel safe and at home, how he protects me. I love his special humor and his very poetic way of seeing the world,” she said.
Though the couple has now gotten over their age gap, Julia admitted she had struggled with preconceptions about age during the beginnings of her relationship with Bernd.
“But with time, I can see that the age gap is like an illusion and I don’t think about it so much anymore,” she added.
“The age is so relative, sometimes I’m feeling older than him and often we’re feeling ageless or the same. But besides that, I think he can guide me in a special way with deep wisdom and strength where I’m still more inconstant.
“When you think of physical differences, he is anything but old and we regularly exercise together, he is a wonderful lover and he has so much power and a lively spirit.”
Not only did the couple get used to each other but they also accepted the fact that people stare at them wherever they go.
Julia also opened up about her own family as she admitted her parents, who are both younger than Bernd, are still skeptical of her bond with the 72-year-old.
“My parents are 60 and 67 and they were and still are skeptical from time to time but separate from the age gap, they really like Bernd and it feels familiar when we’re all together,” she insisted.
“They’ve even invited him to attend a large gathering next year and I’m proud that I will have him by my side.”
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