Poly Love and Aging

Jun 28 '2020, 11:46 AM | By Chris

Growing old is bittersweet. Not everyone gets the opportunity and it comes with difficulties you once couldn’t even imagine. The old phrase “I’m not as good as I once was,” comes to mind. On the other hand, the years of experience provides invaluable wisdom you can share with those willing to slow down and listen. You’ve loved, you’ve lost, and were able to persist. As polyamory becomes more common it’s inevitable future elderly generations will face evolving needs and expectations based on their intimate relationships with multiple partners. An abundance of love will certainly provide for a happy life, but can lead to circumstances that will need pre-planning along with intellectual and emotional preparation. Life is complicated enough for two people sharing life. Add multiple partners in the mix and potential complications grow exponentially.

Preparing for the loss of a loved one when you have multiple partners means finding the right amount of space and the right amount of support for everyone surviving. If the entire plural relationship functions as one family it’s wonderful to lean on each other, but vital to be prepared to accept the different ways in which people grieve. Leaning on your lover is a good thing. Trying to be your lovers therapist, or them being your therapist, is a very bad thing. Grief counseling needs to be a completely unrestrained and open process where any qualms or resentments can come out and be discussed with no risk of creating issues with surviving lovers. If you are a sister wife, maybe you felt your husband neglected you while he looked for a new sister wife, and you have a weird sense of relief now that she is gone. Maybe you were the new sister wife and felt like an intruder because the sister wife that passed never seemed to really embrace you. People can live with feelings like this and maintain a healthy life and relationships, but when unresolved feelings go to a grave they can haunt you. Many plural relationships have little imperfections you may need help forgiving in yourself or someone you love.

Death is not the only challenge for aging polyamorous people. Poly and polygamy dating don’t always lead to a legal marriage, or marriage at all. When laws are set against your plural relationship it can be difficult to guarantee everyone involved can grow old together and enjoy the rights and protections monogamous people simply expect. Too often, when a woman becomes a sister wife, she will have relatives that refuse to recognize her family as valid and they’ll be willing to ‘prove’ their point legally if given the opportunity. If there is discord in the relationship two people with a legal marriage contract can cause great harm to others involved, but without any legal ties to the relationship.

Countless gay people have lost everything when a lover died historically because the family of the deceased could swoop in and use the courts to keep their relatives money and property. Legalizing gay marriage changed the lives of millions for the better. No movement to legalize plural marriage seems to be gaining any steam which means polyamorous people are left at a higher risk of having the carpet pulled from under them.

There are even situations where poly people, especially polygamists, can get into legal trouble due to the nature of the family they’re building.

Granted, there are some bad apples in the polygamy world, but most poly minded people are living harmless and productive lives. It’s important to investigate laws in your region then take the necessary legal steps to ensure your poly family is protected. It will make growing old together a far less scary process.

When you’ve organized your poly life and family and begin to grow older the unique challenges that stem from plural relationships will be sure to arise. Imagine a busy husband deciding he wants to seek a new sister wife while the three he already has can’t imagine enduring the process of growing their family again. Think of three lovers that have always chosen to live separately then two of them decide to live together while the third remains in their own place. As we get older the option of living alone can easily be removed. There has to be an openness to change. On top of all of these scenarios is the fact that polyamorous people are able to date potential new lovers no matter how old they and their partners are becoming. Some can see this as refusing to ever settle into a more peaceful life, but the truth is that polyamory is natural right along with the desire for human connection. Meeting new people and experiencing new energy can keep you younger, healthier, and happier in the long run. Never letting go of, and always respecting, the polyamorous nature of your love life and partners is the only way to maintain a life full of love and joy.

Aging doesn’t have to be a scary process, though there will be scary moments as our bodies ache and wear down. If you have been blessed by choosing a polyamorous or polygamous life remember that you’ve given yourself the gift of a life so full of love you sometimes can’t even handle all of it. A little preparation goes a long way in ensuring the security and well-being of any family, especially an alternative family.

Choosing to be a sister wife, or to join any type of polyamorous family, can be the best choice you’ve ever made if approached with logic and care. Don’t fool yourself into thinking everything will always work out fine. You and the people you love deserve as many guarantees in life as you can find. Never let go of the light that started your poly life by placing nefarious limits on yourself or lover. Keep your open mind and heart that will allow your relationship to exist and evolve organically.

You’ll find as you get older that the more you try to force something that isn’t going to work, the more frustrating and difficult to let go it will become. Be patient with yourself and others, especially lovers, and let the aging process carry you gently to a peaceful end.