Woman Criticized For Getting Engaged To Her Former Teacher With 25-Year Age Gap

Apr 25, 2023

Love comes in all shapes and sizes. Time and time again, people have proven that their love story doesn’t need to be a conventional one and that all that really matters is that they truly love and care for each other. Couples with large age gaps often face negativity and have to defend their relationships with their family and friends.

With a 25-year age gap, 31-year-old forklift driver Monica Ketchum decided to return to high school not to continue her education but to look for her favorite high school teacher and ask her to marry her, The New York Post reported. 

A self-confessed “teacher’s pet,” Ketchum was engaged to 56-year-old Michelle Foster, who was her teacher back in 2004 when she was just 13 years old. 

“We didn’t have any relationship besides her being a good teacher — until I reached out on Facebook 16 years later,” Ketchum told the outlet, detailing their surprising love story. 

Ketchum’s family did not take her coming out as gay very well, which prompted her to seek comfort from the person whom she remembered to have fostered a “safe place” growing up – Foster’s classroom. 

When they reconnected in 2021, Ketchum and Foster became good friends, but they both realized that their new connection was much more than friendly – it was a romantic one. Foster divorced her wife, and Ketchum proposed months after. Their children from their previous marriages also lived with them as they enjoyed the engagement. 

Despite how romantic and dreamy their reconnection and relationship is too many, they did not have it so easily. 

In their recollection of their romantic but challenging love story to The New York Post, Ketchum recalled being the victim of online trolls as many people thought she was groomed by Foster because of their rather unlikely and unconventional relationship. 

The couple has also been mistaken to be mother and daughter “several times every day,” and at one point, many assumed that Foster was Ketchum’s grandmother.  

“I was worried about the age gap and I was worried about how we first met, but I had to let it all go,” Foster told the outlet. “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.”

Despite the criticisms they received, the couple’s love is unfaltering. They have been co-parenting their respective children together and share a lot in common with each other, including their likes of music, their love for the great outdoors, and even their taste in beer. 

“I realized 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,” Foster added.

Ketchum and Foster have been planning their marriage for quite a while already, and they have picked June 2023 as the month when they will finally tie the knot. 

“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,” Ketchum further expressed.

What do you think about this love story? What can you say about their age gap? Let us know, and pass this on to your family, friends, and other loved ones to brighten up their day!