My bf is 8 years older than me, although when I first met him I never would have believed he was that much older! He thought I was several years older than I actually am, too. (He thought I was at least 24, and I was 21. It was so funny when he found out. He was so shocked!) I knew his age right from the day I met him cuz I overheard him telling someone else, and I didn't figure it could ever work out since he was that much older. But it has
We talked about it a bit, and the way I see it, if it doesn't matter to the two of us, why should we care what other people think! Both his parents and my parents are ok with it too, which was important to me.
You made some good points there, Sascha, about life goals and age differences. My bf is very adamant in his opinion that no one should get married before age 25, and I think that has something to do with what you're talking about. We haven't talked too much about it yet, but we are planning to soon. I'm not too sure that at exactly 25 a person is ready to get married, but I do agree with the principle behind it.
With my bf it's rather interesting, cuz he just went back to school this year, to go to seminary, and I'm graduating this spring. He'll have 2 more years of school after I'm done, so it'll be interesting to see how that goes! So he is sort of starting over with his life's direction (or at least making a sharp corner!) and I am starting off.
So yep, I think age differences in relationships can work, and I definitely think it depends on the age of the people involved. But at my age, I think 8 years is enough, but it's working for us.