Couple’s 37-year age gap no problem in the bedroom
There’s a 37 year age gap between them but this young mum says she’s never been happier — despite the awkward encounters they face.
A mother-of-two has revealed she fell madly in love with a bus driver 37 years her senior after meeting him aboard a bus in southwest England.
Laura Wright, 25, from the port city of Plymouth, met Steve Churchward, 62, on the bus as she was travelling with her six-year-old son Braydon.
She had hopped on Plymouth’s number 8 bus service to take her son to kindergarten when the pair struck up a conversation.
Laura, also mum to five-year-old Kiera, met Steve in May 2015.
The bus driver said hello and asked for Laura’s name, then subsequently sent her a friend request on Facebook.
It wasn’t until a month later they both admitted to having feelings for each other.
After a whirlwind romance, the couple moved in together in November 2015, and Steve was the perfect stepdad to her two children.
Laura and Steve were engaged in December, 2017 and plan to marry this year.
According to Laura, the couple’s sex life is “certainly busy”.
“That’s despite the age gap,” she laughs.
“And you’d never know Steve is in his 60s, I can’t keep up with him.”
Despite their relationship receiving its fair share of judgment, the pair say they’re blissfully happy together.
Laura, a stay-at-home mum, said the 37-year age gap between the lovers never felt like an issue.
“Steve’s age has never bothered us in the slightest, and it’s not something I notice,” she said.
“I feel so lucky to have him by my side. He’s everything I’ve ever wanted.”
Laura said she wasn’t looking to fall in love, certainly not with her bus driver.
“I’d just come out of a long-term relationship and wasn’t looking to rush into another one,” she said.
“I wanted to focus on kids.”
At first, Laura admitted Steve didn’t entirely win her over.
“He was bald and wrinkly with a beer belly. He wasn’t my usual type, and I didn’t find him attracted at first,” she said.
“I had spotted him before, but we’d never spoken”.
But it was Steve’s courageous introduction that piqued her interest.
“This time, he said ‘Hello’ and asked for my Facebook. Flustered, I gave him my name. I figured it was harmless,” she said.
“Steve added me that night and we started chatting online about our families and lives. I realised how kind, generous and loving he was.”
The next day, Steve asked Laura on a date over Facebook.
She accepted and, two days later, they enjoyed drinks in her back garden.
Laura said there was an “instant spark” between the pair even though they were just friends at that stage.
“I discovered Steve was then 59 and had three children who were more than five years older than I was,” she said.
But she claimed his age never bothered her.
“To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to develop feelings for him,” Laura said.
“After that, I saw him on the bus every day as he drove the route (to kindergarten). The kids always waved to him and called him ‘bus man’.
Within weeks, the pair were dating and their relationship moved quickly — with Steve fast becoming a father figure to Laura’s children, admitting he’s often mistaken as their grandad.
“Steve would cook dinner for me and the kids or get them ready for school,” she said.
“He treated them like his own children. Braydon even calls Steve ‘Daddy’.
Laura said she loved seeing how much her new boyfriend loved her children.
The time eventually came when Laura had to tell her parents, Wayne and Dawn, about her older lover.
“My dad is 10 years younger than Steve, so I worried they’d be upset,” Laura said.
“But when I told them I loved him they were happy for us, and when they finally met Steve, they loved him too.”
Thanks to the large age gap, strangers regularly presume Steve is Laura’s father.
“One day we were at the supermarket when a cashier told Steve that his grandchildren were really well-behaved,” Laura said.
“Braydon heard her and said, ‘He’s my dad’. Thankfully Steve laughs off comments like that.”
Laura said the couple also received “confused and dirty looks” from people in public if they held hands.
“Once we were at a pub when a guy asked me what I was doing with that old man, referring to Steve, and said we were disgusting,” she said.
“His friend later apologised, saying he was drunk.”
She said the experience was hurtful and upsetting.
“It wasn’t his business, I don’t see why people feel the need to judge others,” she said.
Despite some unwelcome comments, their relationship has blossomed over the years, and Steve proposed to Laura on Christmas Day in 2017.
The couple’s wedding is planned for June this year.
“It was the biggest shock. Now we’re planning our wedding day, and I can’t wait for us to be a proper family,” Laura said.
Laura said they had spoken about their future and decided they didn’t want to have children together.
“We’ve got five kids between us, and that’s enough,” she said.
“My fiance is 37 years older than me, and I couldn’t be happier. He has taught me the meaning of real love.”
According to Steve, he hasn’t found the significant age gap a problem either.
“As soon as I spotted Laura, I thought she was gorgeous,” he said.
“I’m just grabbing my happiness while I can — other people might notice the age gap, but we don’t.
“We don’t take notice of the nasty comments. As long as we’re happy, that’s all that matters.”
This story originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced here with permission
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