Are Age differences a huge deal?

[Hank Hill]

Howdy! I'm coming with more problems again.

Haha! Okay, I sort of "like" like this girl I met, and we're really good friends. Her family is super nice, I hang out at their house a lot, and she's an extremely mature person who shares many of the same beliefs I have towards alcohol, drugs, sex, how men should treat women, whatever.
She was a good enough friend to me that when I came to her when I had some suicidal temptations, she was so helpful and encouraging and she really brought me back from the edge, for lack of better words. It's sort of cliche and lame, but it's true. I couldn't have done it without her. It's part of the reason I have such an affectionate feeling towards her. When she had a small mental crisis recently, I was there for her as well.

Only issue here is that I'm 17 (turning 18 this year) and she's 20, turning 21. For those math-blocked people, that's about 3 years of difference. ha! I hear that age is a big deal in relationships, my parents tell me it too, although I look at them and they're happy when my dad is 49, and my mom is 45. That's 4 years.

I also know she feels a small something towards me as well, but I don't want people to get upset about a relationship (my parents especially) because I doubt I could handle a relationship without their support, but they don't know her either, and if they met her, I'm sure they'd be supportive.

But is age really a huge factor? What are your opinions on my little issue here? Sorry for making this thing so long. Help is appreciated!

~Tyler :D

[Stephan]

In my opinion..No.

As along as the relationship between the 2 people are real genuine feelings of emotions, and that whatever it is they do, they both feel on the same level for the capacity, thus making the two perfect for one another no matter the age difference.

[TigerBoy]

Its not the age, its where you are at in your lives that might cause problems. These are usually things that can be worked around but you'd need to plan and discuss. She might want kids sooner than you are ready for, or you may need to go away to college or whatever.

My bf is 2 years younger, so we do a lot of thinking and planning about what happens when I finish school. We kind of have a general idea of what we're going to do over the next 5 years (in terms of work and uni and stuff).

[Lost in the Echo]

Well in your case it doesn't really matter much since you're turning 18 soon. In my opinion an age gap becomes to big when someone is like 10+ years older than their partner. Also from what you said it seems like you 2 really love each other, it seems like she is the right woman for you too since you guys just connect with each other emotionally on so many things. So yeah, since you guys have the same beliefs, you care about each other and the age gap is not that big at all, I say go for it.

Good luck! I hope you find some happiness! (:

[RedViper]

It shouldn't really be an issue at your age, it would be more so to some people if it were say 13 and 16 but 18 and 21, not so much.