Why Was Lydie Marland, 28, Attracted to E.W. Marland, 54?
E.W. was a majority shareholder in Marland Oil, a $100 million company when they married in 1928. Photos show him to be a powerfully built man of medium height. He may have seemed more virile in 1912, when Aunt Virginia brought Lydie, 12, to Ponca City to live with the Marlands.
According to 11 Things That Attract A Younger Woman To An Older Man, posted September 19, 2020 by Angelina Gupta, an older man may seem like forbidden fruit, a silver fox with a mature personality. Gupta quoted a St. Mary’s University’s study which said young women may have been neglected by their fathers as children, and now look for a father figure to take care of them.
Lydie’s biological dad, the senior George Roberts of Flourtown, may not have been a ne’er-do-well, but he pushed a fruit and veggie cart to a Philadelphia street corner to provide for two sons and two daughters, and eventually the three daughters of his dead sister.
Women with daddy issues may be more easily attracted to the opposite of their father because they want a mature mentor, a wise advisor, a companion who understands her, and a provider for her and their children.
Older men have mysterious auras, deepness, a seriousness that younger men rarely possess. The less an older man talks about himself, the more a younger woman wants to know. Older men are experienced in life, so they don’t sweat the small stuff; they are patient, they have learned how to listen, and conflict resolution skills are more evolved so they are less likely to play the blame game.
Older men may ask for less. They aren’t afraid of marriage, and may seek a long-term relationship. They may assure the woman this is not a fling, that this relationship won’t end in heartache.
E.W. was unlikely to have been a sugar daddy. Virginia had been dead for two years. Lydie was his only daughter, George his only son, so each would have inherited half of E.W.’s estate.
Finally, the heart wants what the heart wants. E.W. was certain that Lydie was the love of his life, and they stayed married for 23 years – the rest of his life.
Their marriage did not have a fairy tale ending, however. Six years after they married, a letter from Lydie proved fifty something E.W. thought his thirty something wife was vacationing back East, not just to see her family, but to meet boyfriends. And Lydie did not deny that to Grace.
Read the September 28, 1934 entry in Lydie Marland’s Letters to Grace Murray 1926 to 1945. The ebook is available on Amazon at $4.50, the 276-page paperback is $22.80.