Hello, Thursday Morning readers! I’m so glad you’re here. I’m writing another chapter of my latest work-in-progress, and I just realized something.
My main character is … well … kind of “over the hill.” She’s not a young chick, not even a pullet (that’s an adolescent chick). She’s already been married, raised two sons. She’s a grandma! 
She might be in love with her next-door neighbor. He’s a real hottie, though he’s also up there in years. Yes, they’re both approaching fifty, and love is definitely knocking at the door.
I’ve read a lot of books about young love. Falling in love, and getting married—I used to dream about it. Then it happened to me. I guess you could say I’m living the dream. I’m content where I am, but it’s still fun to read the stories.
Lately, I’ve read a few love stories that feature older couples. In fact, I’ve seen several movies on television, too. It’s kind of refreshing, because you know, it happens. All the time. Couples divorce, or one of them dies, leaving the other all alone. Some are content to stay single, others are … not.
I met a man at my church who remarried within a year of his elderly wife’s death, because he “couldn’t be alone.” His new wife joked that his late wife had done everything for him, so he literally couldn’t be alone.
This is not the case with the guy in my book. Tom Franklin’s been single for many years. He’s lived on his own all that time. He’s a successful businessman, but he’s lonely. He grew up with Annabelle Wade (now Cross). He loved her in high school, and hoped to one day marry her. But she ran off and married a sailor. Now she’s back, and he can’t get her out of his head, or his heart.
Will these two end up together? I hope so, but there are some definite problems in their way, and who knows? Maybe they’ll decide it’s better to stay single. That’s a realistic ending, isn’t it?
What do you think? Do you like reading an “over-the-hill” romance?
Betty Thomason Owens 