age is nothing but a number, right?

Tonight I talked to my best friend in LA and she told me one of our best friends Ryan was dating a girl that was 15. We sat on the phone and laughed and talked shit like normal girls do without thinking. This girl was 12 when we were 17, he was committing a crime. I thought about it in disgust. My boyfriend asked me what was so funny and I told him the story and he said it was pretty bad of that guy to be dating a girl so young. But then again my boyfriend is 23 and I am 19. Although I always forget how old I am because I feel much older than most people my age.
He is 4 years older than me. So I'm sitting here talking shit when I know there are people that must have obviously talked shit about my relationship. I think it's insane when I see people dating from different age groups and how sometime for some couples it's seen as unheard of and with others I feel it's only natural. It's crazy to think a 32 year old woman is entitled to date a 45 year old man in sex and the city, but it would be inappropriate for a 17 year old to date somebody who is say 25. The age difference between the older pair is 14 years and the age difference between the younger pair is only a nine year difference. Who is to say that age really does matter?
The other day a couple came into Mimi's cafe and sat in my section. The man was walking with a cane, white hair balding in the middle, and thick green glasses. He seriously could not hear a word coming out of my mouth. And the woman he was with was in her mid-40s, little cocktail dress, strappy sandals. She looked like a working woman taking a break from work to take her father to lunch. And at the end of the meal I asked them if they cared for any desserts and the man looked at the woman and said "we don't need any dessert I'm gonna give her something sweet when we get home." And I thought it was appropriate up until the point where she licked her lips at him. Then I realized they were married. A bit of shock and disgust was hiding behind my awkward smile.
This all just helped me realize the age difference in my relationship is just fine because we are happy and in love and that's all that really matters. (and he is not old enough to be my father.)