AGE IS JUST A NUMBER

When Colleen Hammami, 58, met the love of her life, not everyone approved

- FRANCES LEATE, CHELSEA HEATLEY,

As Eva Cassidy’s Who Knows Where the Time Goes played in the background, I strummed on my guitar before singing along. It was October 2017 and, feeling brave, I recorded myself on my phone and uploaded the video to Facebook. I’d been playing the guitar since I was 11 and had been in a few bands. Now, though, I was working in administration in a dental practice, so it was just a hobby. Still, when people on my Facebook page complimented me on my singing voice, it felt good, and when a man called Haithem wrote, ‘You have a beautiful voice,’ I felt flattered. ‘Thanks,’ I posted back.

Clicking onto his profile, I saw that he was good-looking but very young – early 30s, maybe. I was in the process of separating from my husband of 24 years, who I had two grown-up sons with.

The last thing on my mind was romance, but when Haithem started messaging me privately and speaking about his life in Tunisia, I felt strangely drawn to him. He sent me photos of his home, and with miles of luscious, rolling fields, it was beautiful. I told him a bit about my life in Canada, my love of music, and my beloved Jack Russell, Jack.

Haithem wrote in broken English, but it was endearing – and he seemed really mature for his age. The next day, he messaged me again – and this time we chatted away for five hours. ‘How old are you? I’m 53,’ I wrote eventually. ‘You don’t look your age,’ he replied, confessing he was 32.