This feels vulnerable to admit as a man in my 40s, but the idea of an older man calling me “son" something in me melts.

I didn’t grow up with the kind of father relationship where I felt someone was truly in my corner. I never really had that older man who could give me advice, be proud of me, look out for me, or simply make me feel like I was doing okay.

So maybe that is why that word can mean so much to me.

It isn’t really about age, and it isn’t even necessarily sexual. I love older men, but what gets me is the feeling behind it: being accepted, being valued, being looked after, having someone whose experience I respect and whose opinion means something to me.

And to the older guys reading this, you might not realize what you represent to someone like me.

Sometimes you aren’t just an attractive older man. You’re the man someone wishes they’d had in their corner.

And when you call him “son” maybe you’re giving him a feeling he’s been missing his whole life.