TEACHER’S PET
I got engaged to my favourite teacher 25 years older than me – we’re mistaken for grandmother and granddaughter
A WOMAN who got engaged to her favourite teacher who is 25 years her senior says their often mistaken for grandmother and granddaughter.
Monica Ketchum, 31, is now planning her wedding with Michelle Foster, 56, nearly two decades after she left the classroom.
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The self-confessed "teacher's pet" decided to seek her beloved science teacher out on Facebook and try to reconnect in April 2020.
They caught up on the last 16 years before eventually arranging a lunch date to continue their conversations - and quickly became fast friends.
Michelle, who had been in a relationship with a woman in the past, helped Monica navigate through a tough personal situation.
The forklift driver, from Michigan, US, had become estranged from her devoutly Christian family after she came out as a lesbian in August 2021.
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She explained she felt comfort from spending time with her former teacher because Michelle's classroom had been her "safe place" as a child.
Monica said: "We sat and had lunch for five hours - it was great to catch up. We grew close and became great friends - we could talk about anything.
"We were both in really dark places and finding someone you can relate to and be vulnerable with felt safe."
The pair soon realised their was more to their friendship than just moral support, and soon ended their relationships to be together.
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Michelle filed for divorce from her wife in May 2022 and dismissed her worries about their 25-year age gap to move in with her ex-student.
But not everyone is as used to seeing the couple - who both have children from previous marriages - in a romantic light.
They said they are mistaken for mother and daughter "several times every day" - with one stranger even mistaking Michelle for being Monica's grandmother.
But the loved-up duo "don't even notice" the age difference and have bonded over music, camping, outdoor activities and hunting down locally-brewed beer.
Monica said: "I've always been attracted to older people, so the gap wasn't an issue for me, but Michelle worried about it at first.
She said: "People ask 'is that your mum' or even 'is that your grandma' all the time.
"I even recently designed a t-shirt saying 'no, she's not my mum'.
"I try to let it go but it does hurt - age doesn't matter to us, so why does it matter to other people?"
The 31-year-old also explained she didn't fall in love with her in seventh grade, and they "didn't have any relationship besides her being a good teacher."
The couple got engaged in September last year after adorably organising individual proposals for each other.
They plan to get hitched in June 2023 to celebrate their extraordinary love story.
Michelle added: "I've always been a huge caregiver and one day she said 'let me take care of you' - I can't tell you how good that felt.
"I was worried about the age gap and I was worried about how we first met, but I had to let it all go.
"It became clear I had to make a choice for myself, and when I did, it was the weight of the world lifted.
"Once I let go, it didn't matter what anyone thought. Since I let go of that, we just flowered," she beamed.
"I realised other people can think what they think and I just have to do what I need to do to be happy.
"I now just think how lucky am I to have such a wonderful beautiful soul to spend the rest of my days with."
And even though they are targeted by trolls, they say it couldn't be further from the truth.
The pair share their lives on social media because they want to "be open in the community which needs a voice" - referring to their age gap and being LGBT.
Monica said: "We want to be where others come to find hope and light and safety or need a friend.
"We want to encompass everybody in a loving way and promote that love is love.
"We get a lot of harassment for our age gap, and we don't understand it. Age doesn't matter to us, so why does it matter to other people?
"If I allow myself to sit there and think about it, I'll go insane - I try to let it go but it does hurt.
"Love is love and we can love whoever we want."
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This woman told how her husband is often mistaken for their son's grandfather due to their 27-year age gap.
Mariam Trela, 26, explained it was a case of "love at first sight" when she first saw her former university teacher Grzegorz Trela.
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