At 74 I married a woman 38 years younger than me. Everyone thought I had lost my mind… But one night, my humble domestic worker heard a conversation and said, “Mr.simo Richard, if you don’t listen to me right now, tomorrow may be too late.”

Is there coffee on the terrace today?

I laughed.

“For you?” Always.

Nothing happened quickly between us.

For a long time I didn’t even allow myself to think of her that way.

The age difference between us was so great that the idea that Rachel could see me as more than just an old friend seemed absurd to me.

But over the months we became best friends.

She knew when to talk about Helen, I was sad.

I knew when she was worried about her mother’s health.

He never treated me like a rich old man.

And I stopped seeing her as the housekeeper who once cleaned my house.

It was Rachel.

The person next to whom I could sit quietly for hours without feeling uncomfortable.

One night we were sitting outside.

Rachel looked at me and said,

“You know? When I’m with you, I never feel like I have to pretend to be someone else.