This is Rose
she fell in love with Kimberly.
Kimberly: Kiss me beautiful.
It was romance from the start and it's never stopped.
She makes good sounds in the night.
[Laughter]
As a lesbian age gap couple these two
have to get used to being judged for their relationship.
Kimberly: We do get glances though you know we do.
Oh is this your daughter?
Rose: We get quite a bit when we're out and about.
And it's not just strangers who've had trouble accepting their relationship.
Lexi: When Rose first started dating Kim I was like
why the hell and like how the heck does this happen?
I thought um, she wanted Rose’s money.
Can Kimberly convince Rose’s closest friend
that she's in the relationship for the right reason?
Lexi: Thought might be kidnap her or something, you know,
why are you dating this 'old hag'?
Rose: I am 28 years old. Kimberly: I'm wonderful 50.
Rose: And we have a 22 year old age gap.
I'm more of the like, reserved type and she's more of like the …
Kimberly: I’m outgoing she's a very … Rose: Unless I have a
couple of drinks then … Kimberly: Yeah.
Rose: Do I loosen up.
Kimberly: I have never dated anyone this young before.
Rose: I came out as gay when I was actually in high school.
So basically my entire life I've been out of the closet
and everybody knows that I'm into women.
While Rose has been open about her sexuality for most of her life,
Kimberly was in the military for 10 years
and felt unable to be open about herself until she left.
Kimberly: I found the move up from the south very liberating.
I can be myself here. I can be who I need to be
and who I want to be and in the love that I want to share.
I didn't come out publicly until after the military,
because I was under the don't ask don't tell. I
was hidden basically in a closet until I could leave the state of Tennessee.
Most of my life I have been hidden with the gay thing because
in the in the Bible Belt it's discriminated against.
So to have a profession and have a career, you're not
to talk about your personal life in that matter.
Upon leaving the military, Kimberly finally felt free
to be open about her sexuality and set about looking for love.
Rose: How me and Kimberly first met but it was through my friend.
But Kimberly's road to love wasn't a smooth one.
She fell foul to online scams
because of her inexperience in the dating scene.
Kimberly: I was looking for a mate, everybody that you found online,
were looking for money.
I didn't understand that, that was the cat fishing scheme.
I ran across a phone number that had been spoofed from cat fishing
Rose: Which was my friend … Kimberly: And I called it.
Listen, I've been you know, exploited with my bank account and
there's catfishing happening and I think they're going to expose you because
your number come up and that number got handed over to her.
And she called me and said, Stop what you're doing stop talking to them.
Have no contact da da da. I'll handle it from here.
I just thought who would do that for just a stranger?
Having saved Kimberly from a catfishing nightmare,
the two began to get to know one another online.
Rose: She calls me baby cakes. I love it. Kimberly: Baby cakes baby cakes.
Rose: I'd say we probably message for about four about four months...
Kimberly: Four months. Rose: Before we actually met up.
Kimberly: Curvy are you kidding me? Rose: So cheesy and sappy.
Kimberly: Because we are we're like kids. Rose: I took the initiative to actually
buy my own ticket to go down to Tennessee and se her.
So I kind of just went on a whim. Kimberly: I honestly didn't wasn't sure
if it was a real or a catfish so to see her walking through the airport
and run into my arms and kiss it was romance from the start.
I love you. Rose: I love you too.
Once together, the two were inseparable
but because of their 22 year age gap,
people often don't think they're a couple at all.
Kimberly: Oh, is this your daughter? Rose: Yeah,
we get quite a bit when we're out and about is that your mother with you?
Kimberly: And I'm like, no, this is my girlfriend
and we are very much in love. Thank you.
Rose: And then we kiss. Kimberly: Yeah with little emojis.
Rose: We always send those. Kimberly: Oh, Lord have mercy.
Well, there was some reservations about me dating a younger person
and I have tried to conquer those fears with both myself and her.
I know people are going to come at her and I've got to be
strong enough and confident enough to say that's with me and
she's choosing to be with me.
She makes good sounds in the night. [Laughter]
Rose: We’re going to meet Lexi now that a little cafe in town
and kind of a little nervous still because Lexi kind of thought that I was
a little bit crazy for dating somebody that was 22 years older than me.
So we'll we'll see how this pans out.
We definitely hold hands and kiss in public.
Kimberly: At the grocery store. Whenever I feel the passion or ...
Rose: Yeah. the need to give her confidence …
Rose: And you pinch my butt too. Kimberly: I'm a little frisky Yeah.
So yeah, yeah, we do a little it's I’m coming out of my shell.
We do get glances though you know we do.
Rose and Kimberly's relationship is still something
that best friend Lexi is having to get used to.
Lexi: When Rose first started dating Kim, I was like
why the hell like and how the heck does this happen kind of thing?
And I yeah, I didn't really realize how old she really was until I met her.
I thought maybe she maybe wanted Rose’s money.
You could be with a hot 20 year old supermodel
why the heck are you with somebody as old as my mother?
Hey. Kimberly: Strawberry smoothie.
Lexi: We didn't really hang out as much since …
Kimberly: Yeah. Lexi: No we don't Kimberly: We no
Lexi: So I think it took me a little bit not be like
it's kind of get the **** out of my friend's life so we can go somewhere.
You know Rose is young you know she needs her time to go out party whatever.
When Kimberly first came in it was kind of like,
who's this B**** trying to tell us what to do?
It’s like this *****, you know, why are you dating this old hag?
I thought maybe you might kidnap her or something.
And you know, but you love who you love.
Kimberly: We have we come to a meeting of the minds is what I would say,
and understanding because we Lexi: We know [Inaudible] Rose.
Kimberly: We do.
Lexi: So like hey mami.
Rose: That’s exactly what it was like. Lexi: Are these granny panties?
Rose: So actually are Daisy Fuentes. Lexi: Oh God help us.
All right, let's stop talking about granny panties.
Now approaching nine months together,
Rose and Kimberly are nothing short of certain
about the direction their relationship is headed in.
Kimberly: I'm finally living the life that I've never got to live in Tennessee.
I feel like I've been let out the cage, that I was an animal being held back,
and I finally get to love freely.
Rose: There's not just one thing that I love about Kimberly,
it's her as a whole.
I can say that I don't think I've ever been in love before I met her.
And I know that for a fact.
Kimberly: Marriage is definitely something that I'm trying to lock her down in.
I'm not going to lie, I’m chasing... Rose: I'm just waiting for my ring.
Kimberly: I'm chasing this hard I promise.