Featured Image Credit: Instagram/jessicazirk
Topics: Community, Sex and Relationships
Gerrard Kaonga
A woman whose husband shares the same name and age as her father says she doesn't have 'daddy issues' - despite what people might think.
Jessica Zirkelbach married Alan when she was 22 and he was 50, and the couple have been married for over 12 years.
Jessica and Alan first met when a mutual friend invited her to play darts at his condo - and it was love at first sight as the pair began dating 'immediately after that'.
Speaking to Love Don't Judge, she said: “I think my attraction to Alan grew over time as far as physical attraction goes, but I was attracted to everything else immediately; his success, the way he carried himself, the way he was a host, the way he pursued me immediately.”
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While she said that she was looking for someone 'like' her father, she didn’t actually realise how close the match would be.
Alan also admitted he'd initially struggled with the age gap and was wary of it being a problem.
“I think I had to ask a couple of times how Jessica felt about that age-gap,” he said.
Most of the criticism the pair face about their relationship is on social media, with it rarely being said directly to them, however, there was one notable occasion where it did happen.
Alan spoke about an encounter on a cruise ship, where 'a group of three ladies saw us dancing, and they saw me kiss her'.
"Then when I walked away they gave me like a hard time about it." he told the YouTube channel.
“They said ‘She could be your daughter’ and that kind of stuff. That one got under my skin a little bit more. People may say things behind our back but not right to our face normally.”
And as for what Jessica's father thought, he remembered her telling him about this 'great guy' and how she thinks 'he's the one', adding: "I said 'Really? What's his name?' and she said 'Alan.'
"I said 'How old is he?' She said 'In his fifties,' and I said 'You've got daddy issues!'"
In response, Jessica says: "But it's not true," to which her father and her husband both agree.
Alan replies: "I don't think you have daddy issues at all."
Jessica's father then says that while it was initially 'awkward' for him, he has since come around as he 'never had any belief that he [Alan] was in it for the wrong reasons' and his only concern was about Jessica's happiness.
Jessica said that 'the doubts of people pushed us together' in order to prove them wrong about their relationship.