A couple with 31 years of age difference who sail around the globe admits they get odd looks from people in public but aren’t bothered by what others think of their relationship.
33-year-old Marjorie, who’s originally from France, and 64-year-old Mark Jensen, from Sydney, Australia, live together on a 40-foot sailing boat. Mark retired at 48 after a successful career in the media industry, working as a writer, producer, and director, and bought the boat to pursue his dream of traveling the world.
Marjorie previously worked for the French government before taking a sabbatical to join her now-husband after they met in 2019. The couple faced some serious challenges when introducing their relationship to Marjorie’s family, especially since Mark is a year older than her mother.
Mark and Marjorie also faced some surprised reactions when they kissed in public early in their relationship. Marjorie was 28 at the time, and Mark was 59.
Currently, they are in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after sailing from the Caribbean. The couple has exciting plans to cross the Atlantic next year in their boat, and afterward, they hope to spend some time in France and London.
“I think we’re in total harmony, Mark and me, we’re in the same place, everything works together, we don’t notice the age gap because we like the same things in the same way,” said Marjorie.
The couple first crossed paths in 2019 in northern France, thanks to a mutual friend who introduced them. Mark shared that while he was in Cherbourg, where Marjorie was working at the time, he joined a group where French people who spoke English would gather.
“I met everybody in Cherbourg who could speak English, except Marjorie because she never came along to those meetings. I got to meet (Marjorie’s) co-worker and we would often have a beer together and one day he said he has a friend coming along to join us,” he said.
“We were at this bar which had a mezzanine level, we were sitting on the top level and we could look down. He continued. “A very pretty lady walked across the floor, turned around and looked up towards where we were and waved.”
“I thought she must have been waving at someone behind us but she was waving at my friend.”
He mentioned that he had his friend go to the bar to grab some drinks while he and Marjorie sat together, enjoying each other’s company.
“I just thought, ‘what happens now?’ because she can’t speak English and I can’t speak French so we were just looking at each other.”
Meanwhile, Marjorie explained that even though she began learning English in primary school and often uses it to talk to people from other countries, she and Mark felt unsure about how to keep their conversation going when they first met.
“I did it like every French person, when you’re asked if you speak English, you say ”a little bit’ ‘and then you just stop there and you don’t know what to say next,” she said.
When asked about their initial attraction, Marjorie revealed that she had fallen in love by the end of the evening.
“I actually forgot that my co-worker was in front of us and I just saw Mark, and only Mark, and by the end of the evening I was totally in true love” she added.
According to Mark, he had come to terms with the idea of being a single man before meeting Marjorie.
“I was obviously (attracted to Marjorie) but I had previously made a decision not to look for women and to live my life without the necessity of having a woman, a partner, because that’s just where life was going. I just wanted to be comfortable within myself. When I met Marjorie, it was lovely because I wasn’t expecting it and I didn’t know where things were going to go.”
Although Mark revealed to Marjorie that he wasn’t looking for a girlfriend and that being with him would mean living on his boat and sailing around the world, Marjorie wasn’t immediately on board with the idea. She preferred to take things slow and wanted to date first before deciding if she was ready to embark on such a big adventure with him.
“The first day I started to be interested in him I was like ‘he’s older, what are you doing’?” she explained. “But then it just goes away because physically and mentally, he doesn’t feel like an old man, sometimes I feel like I’m dating a guy who is 40 years old.”
When they first started their relationship, the couple faced harsh criticism and shocking looks from those around them.
“Nobody says anything (in public) but when I met Mark, I was 28 and at that time, I tended to look younger than my age,” said Marjorie. “I remember in Belgium, I kissed Mark in a restaurant and there were people next to us who looked shocked – so he said ”kiss me again”. When we started to date, people were looking but now I look more my age.”
Despite their age difference, the couple believes it is a crucial aspect of their relationship.
“When Marjorie is watching her shows, an anime, a horror movie, something like that, I love her imagination because it’s a young person’s imagination. Mark added. “Most people have lost their imagination by the time they’re 23 or 25 but Marjorie’s still got it and she’s going to have it when she’s 50 or 60 or 70.”
“There’s no people I know in their 50s, 60s or 70s that have the imagination Marjorie has or the imagination that I have,” he concluded. “The use of imagination is pivotal to our relationship because Marjorie has a young attitude and so do I.”
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Source: Daily Mail
