He claims that his daughter doesn’t want him to be happy.

Age gap relationships are not all bad. Contrary to what puritan Gen Zers tell you, there are plenty of happy unions out there between people who definitely weren’t in high school together. It might be hard to believe if you and everyone you know married somebody who graduated the same year as you did, but a 25-year-old and a 40-year-old can have a healthy relationship that’s not steeped in a nefarious power dynamic. It truly depends on who those 25-year-olds and 40-year-olds are as people. Maybe they’re at a similar place in their life, or maybe they’re just madly in love with each other. It’s very normal to feel a little suspicious about an age-gap relationship, but most of them are not toxic because of the age gap.  

There are always exceptions to the rule, and if you’re approaching retirement age and dating someone young enough to be your granddaughter, people are probably going to judge you for that relationship. I’m talking about Bill Belichick-aged guys dating college sophomores. Everyone kind of knows that young, beautiful girls dating old men are getting something out of the relationship, and they judge both parties accordingly. They call the old guys creeps, and the young women gold diggers, and if you get into a relationship like this, you’d be foolish not to expect that reaction, especially if you have adult children.