Our LOVE may be unconventional but...

Relationships don’t always have to follow the rules, according to these three women

- KIM WILLIS

Suzanne Scott Nagasaka, 77, from Skerne, Yorkshire, has been with her husband Michael, 54, for 30 years.

A few years ago, I was out shopping with my husband Michael when a shop assistant made a comment about him getting a ‘nice present from his mum’. Instantly, I was between us is 23 years. To us, it’s irrelevant but the same can’t always be said for others.

Jazz night

I was 47, a single mum of two grown-up boys and living in Hong Kong when I met Michael. I was out barman asked me to talk to this young Washington, USA, and didn’t know anyone. I invited him to sit with us, thinking I’d set him up with my younger housemate, as he was only 25. He ended up coming to our next night out too, and we spent the evening locked in conversation. I soon realised that Michael was not interested in my housemate!

Michael hadn’t been married before – he was engaged but the relationship hadn’t worked out, and he had never wanted children. I’d had my two sons and was happy working as a craniosacral therapist.

To begin with, I told myself I shouldn’t be with a man who people assumed was my child. After all, he was not much older than my sons. But Michael told me to ignore negative comments. I thought my mum Doreen might have something to say, but she adored him. As did my sons, who told me if I was happy, they were happy for me.