By Liana Jacob
MEET THE man who fell for a woman TWENTY-ONE YEARS YOUNGER while INTERVIEWING HER for a job – but she still had to ask him out THREE TIMES before he agreed.
Bus driver, Alanna Soehner (28) from Ohio, USA, first met operations director, Luke Wilson (49) in 2016 when he interviewed her to work at his landscape division.
He was immediately struck by her when they locked eyes during their initial introductions, but despite their attraction to each other and her asking him out, he was hesitant. He felt that she was too young for him, but due to her persistence, after asking him out three times, they gave into their temptations and started dating.
Luke grew more infatuated by Alanna’s feminine and masculine energy, being able to ‘outpace’ her male co-workers. While their families were apprehensive about their relationship at first, they soon warmed up to them as a couple and understood that they were in love.
Alanna has two children from a previous relationship, Addison (9) and Stanley (6), who like Luke, while he has two older children from a previous relationship and while his son has struggled with their relationship, he says that his daughter Natalie (19) gets on well with Alanna.
“I found him very attractive and I was very nervous and needed the job. We first met when he interviewed me for a job. It wasn’t until a few days of working and conversations that things started to change,” Alanna said.
“I was attracted to his style and the way he dressed. He was attracted to the fact that I was a landscaper and could out pace all the other guys.
“Our age gap has been an issue sometimes because we were raised completely different from one another. Also, we are at completely different maturity levels and between the two it causes us not to see eye to eye.
“Our families were shocked at first, but then understood that we were in love and from then on they were fine with the relationship.”
Luke describes Alanna’s attributes that made him fall for her.
“Alanna is a woman of many interests who was heavily influenced by her father. One day we will find her focused solely on makeup and being the beautiful woman she is, another we will find her wanting to drive the biggest truck she can find and prove that she won’t be outdone by any man,” he said.
“She has many passionate interests from beauty to farming to cooking to going mudding on four-wheelers.
“She’s quite possibly one of the most head-strong females I’ve ever met. I needed additional field staff for my landscape division, and she applied.
“I was initially very impressed with her. For those that know me well, they know I have a couple of hiring musts: a good handshake and solid eye contact.
“She came in confident, almost broke my hand and locked her beautiful brown eyes on mine. I knew she was too young to even consider, but she’s not the kind of girl to take no for an answer.
“Once she decided she was interested, she started coming to my office every morning to say good morning. My office door looked out onto the stairway.
“Every day after she came to say good morning, she would stop at the top of the stairs, look back and smile. I looked forward to watching her walk away and waiting for that smile.
“I gave her my personal number as I mentioned before, and we began talking. Took her asking me out three times for me to get over the age difference concern, but I did and here we are.”
Despite their relationship going strong for three years, the two have had conflicts from their families about their age gap, including Luke’s son, Avery (22), who felt Alanna was too close in age to him. But their other children have given their blessing.
“My kids have had moments of difficulty with the relationship, but we’ve always been able to work through things,” Luke said.
“My daughter and Alanna get along well. My son has had more difficulty at times with the age difference or maybe more pointedly, Alanna’s closeness in age to him.
“We have a very ‘high energy’ relationship. We’re both headstrong, passionate and neither one gives up easy. In the midst of all the energy though, we have a lot of fun together.
“We have a mini-farm with horses, goats, chickens, ducks, dogs and too many cats. We also enjoy growing our own vegetables.
“Down time is cooking together, dinner out, arguing over the best way to do a project, or a ride on the bike.
“Needless-to-say, there is never a dull moment and there’s always something to learn about bridging the age gap.
“Different generations. Different cultural references. Different music. Different worldviews. Common hopes. Common dreams. Common struggles. Uncommon Love.”
