When I write about dating, I usually have my fellow late 20/ early 30 somethings in mind. After all, 22 to 35 is the key time for finding a life partner, it’s a period for intense dating. Particularly in the Jewish world.

Every year that goes by I have fewer and fewer single girlfriends in the dating pool as they (and me eventually) get married off just like Tevye’s daughters in Fiddler on the Roof. And that’s why when I set up an agency for blind dates, I exclusively concentrated on that age group. Work with what you know and who you know, right?

But love can strike at any age. And so I’ve been thinking about older and younger dating. Is it different from my core group?

And how do I find out? I suspect dating in your forties and fifties is much more nuanced. I already think someone entering my life in chapter 28 feels like they’ve missed a lot, so I can’t imagine what venturing on a date must feel like when you’re up to chapter 58. There might be children and even grandchildren in the mix.

Stories about former partners could take quite a few dates to get through. There’s less emphasis maybe on looking forward, and more on meshing your pasts. I mean, how do you even begin telling your story and when do you tell a date anecdotes that could stretch back for decades?

My dating tactics have changed from when I was 21 and as we get older and experience the joys and pitfalls of life, what we learn can either make us optimistic and wise, or bitter and disillusioned about the future.

I’ve met single 60-year-olds who have more enthusiasm and zest for their dating lives than jaded 25-year-olds that have been burnt out by the dating scene. I stand with those who keep pushing through each date hopeful that their next first date will be their last.

Anyway, I’ve decided to expand the age range my agency serves and accept clients from 22 to 62. There is something thrilling about reading the sign-up forms of my new clients.

They’ve got lived experiences that I am yet to go through. I rate them for being game to go on a blind date and putting their trust in me (a single 28-year-old accidental matchmaker) to set it all up.

My matchmaking skills are of course transferable but I’m about to get to know an entirely different age group and attempt to understand how they view dating.
Do they see dating as a chore? Or do they get butterflies just like they did when they were dating in their twenties? I’m eager to discover their world of dating…