A married couple who dwell on a ship and journey around the globe have stated they really feel age is only a quantity regardless of one being older than the opposite’s mom.
Marjorie and Mark Jensen, 33 and 64 respectively, dwell on a 40-foot crusing boat travelling the world collectively.
Mark, who’s Australian and from Sydney, retired when he was 48 and bought the boat following a profession within the media the place he was a author, producer and director.
Marjorie, who’s French, used to work for the French authorities earlier than she took a sabbatical and joined her now-husband after the pair met in 2019.
The couple had some “issues” when presenting their relationship to Marjorie’s household, nonetheless, with Mark saying he’s one 12 months older than Marjorie’s mom.
Mark and Marjorie have been additionally on the receiving finish of some “shocked” faces once they kissed in public on the time they began relationship, when Marjorie was 28 and Mark 59.
Now the pair, who spoke from Fort Lauderdale in Florida after crusing from the Caribbean, have set their sights on journeying throughout the Atlantic subsequent 12 months of their boat, earlier than spending time in France and London.
“I believe we’re in complete concord, Mark and me, we’re in the identical place, the whole lot works collectively, we don’t discover the age hole as a result of we like the identical issues in the identical means,” Marjorie stated.
The couple first met in 2019 within the north of France after they have been launched by a mutual good friend.
Mark stated that whereas spending a while in Cherbourg, the place Marjorie was working on the time, he was a part of a gaggle the place English-speaking French individuals would get collectively.
“I met all people in Cherbourg who may communicate English, besides Marjorie as a result of she by no means got here alongside to these conferences,” Mark stated.
“I obtained to satisfy (Marjorie’s) co-worker and we might typically have a beer collectively and sooner or later he stated he has a good friend coming alongside to hitch us.
“We have been at this bar which had a mezzanine degree, we have been sitting on the highest degree and we may look down.
“A really fairly woman walked throughout the ground, rotated and appeared up in the direction of the place we have been and waved.
“I assumed she will need to have been waving at somebody behind us however she was waving at my good friend.”
Mark stated he despatched his good friend to the bar to fetch some drinks whereas the pair sat collectively alone.
“I simply thought, ‘what occurs now?’ as a result of she will be able to’t communicate English and I can’t communicate French so we have been simply one another,” Mark stated.
When requested in the event that they have been attracted to one another after they first met, Marjorie stated that by the tip of the night, she was in love.
“I really forgot that my co-worker was in entrance of us and I simply noticed Mark, and solely Mark, and by the tip of the night I used to be completely in real love” she stated.
Mark, nonetheless, had beforehand resigned himself to the lifetime of a single man.
“I used to be clearly (interested in Marjorie) however I had beforehand decided to not search for ladies and to dwell my life with out the need of getting a girl, a companion, as a result of that’s simply the place life was going,” he stated.
“I simply wished to be snug inside myself.
“Once I met Marjorie, it was pretty as a result of I wasn’t anticipating it and I didn’t know the place issues have been going to go.”
Mark advised Marjorie that he “wasn’t searching for a girlfriend”, saying that if she wished to start out a relationship with him she could be residing with him on his boat and “crusing around the globe”.
Marjorie stated she was not initially eager on the thought and wished the pair to this point first earlier than she would determine whether or not she wished to go together with him.
“The primary day I began to be involved in him I used to be like ‘he’s older, what are you doing?’” she stated.
“However then it simply goes away as a result of bodily and mentally, he doesn’t really feel like an outdated man, generally I really feel like I’m relationship a man who’s 40 years outdated.”
When the pair offered their relationship to their household, they confronted a number of hurdles, particularly when Mark met Marjorie’s dad and mom.
“I’ve been out of Australia for some time, my mom and father already handed away, so it was simply my two sisters and it wasn’t an issue for me,” Mark stated.
“The issue for me was assembly Marjorie’s mom and father.”
Mark defined that he’s one 12 months older than Marjorie’s mom, who’s 63, whereas her father is 74.
“Marjorie’s father appears to be like very stern and after I met him, I’m considering he’s not all proper with the age distinction.
“We’re sitting there on the desk and he brings out his looking dagger and knife assortment.
“Proper behind him was a furnishings sideboard and proper behind that was one thing that appeared identical to the butt of a pistol.
“I simply thought if I wasn’t on my good behaviour, he’s going to select it up and blow my head off, however it wasn’t a gun, it simply appeared prefer it.”
Marjorie added that the second was handled in a light-hearted method, saying: “Everybody was scared how my dad was going to react however all through the primary day, they began getting on. Everybody was tense till he pulled out the knives, then all of us began to loosen up a bit.”
The couple have been additionally on the receiving finish of some “shocked” appears to be like once they first began relationship.
Marjorie stated: “No person says something (in public) however after I met Mark, I used to be 28 and at the moment, I tended to look youthful than my age.
“I keep in mind in Belgium, I kissed Mark in a restaurant and there have been individuals subsequent to us who appeared shocked – so he stated ‘kiss me once more’.
“After we began to this point, individuals have been wanting however now I look extra my age.”
Regardless of the age hole between the pair, they really feel it’s “pivotal” to their relationship.
“When Marjorie is watching her reveals, an anime, a horror film, one thing like that, I like her creativeness as a result of it’s a teenager’s creativeness,” Mark stated.
“Most individuals have misplaced their creativeness by the point they’re 23 or 25 however Marjorie’s nonetheless obtained it and she or he’s going to have it when she’s 50 or 60 or 70.
“There’s no individuals I do know of their 50s, 60s or 70s which have the creativeness Marjorie has or the creativeness that I’ve.
“The usage of creativeness is pivotal to our relationship as a result of Marjorie has a younger angle and so do I.”
Mark and Marjorie will now be spending the remainder of the 12 months exploring the US, saying they’re on their “personal journey” collectively which may take them to any a part of the world.
“I consider that it’s extra essential for me to dream up and obtain my very own adventures,” Mark stated.
“I’ve taken this boat proper around the globe with Marjorie, we’re doing our personal adventures and that’s what’s essential.
“On the boat, we’re proper there with one another all day, each day, and we completely depend on one another once we’re in the course of the ocean.”
