Chamber of Sober Second Thought?

At 69 years of age it would be presumptuous to suggest that a man has become a trifle senile to believe that he could have a normal, healthy relationship with a young woman of 23.  More likely, perhaps, it might be that he simply allowed himself to be carried away by the circumstances in which a young woman the age of his grandchildren if he'd had any, felt herself to be interested in him as a partner in life. 

Which, to any thinking person would make little practical sense on a whole range of issues, not the least of which is that the 'partner-in-life' designation would of necessity be of relatively short duration on his part, and long on hers.  Furthermore, might the stamina, emotions, experiences, physical and psychological needs of a 69-year-old man seeking to re-tread his life with a first marriage, match that of a 23-year-old woman embarking freshly on maturity?

Maygan Sensenberger, trained as a ballet dancer, then moved on to become an aspiring actress.  She may have felt flattered that a man three times older than herself was romantically interested in her.  A strange notion for a young woman, but stranger things have happened.  Perhaps she felt that by the force of her personality she could transform him from a creaky old frog into a lively tadpole. 

According to witnesses on the flight they were on from Ottawa to Saskatoon where Senator Rod Zimmer hails from, his young wife was reluctant to make that trip to meet members of her husband's family.  Ms. Sensenberger's grandmother, Rita Sensenberger, was most helpful with background, informing reporters that the two had dated for a number of years prior to their marriage. 

They waited, it appears, until the young woman reached her 21st birthday before publicly announcing their intimate relationship. She was a teen when he was in his mid-60s. 

If, as a teen, she was a trifle lacking in common sense, it might logically have been assumed that he, a man of 65 or so, would be imbued with enough common sense to understand the unlikelihood of success of such a personal, intimate relationship.  He obviously felt he had much to gain by pursuing the young woman, and she, it would appear, reciprocated the feeling.

His personal health was not in the high percentile of age-excellent, his having suffered throat cancer years earlier with a prognosis of 20% survival in the following two years.  He evidently suffers from some heart problems.  That 'blind date' to which her grandmother ascribes their first meeting, must have blinded them both to realities and practicalities.

He feels himself to be a confident, forward-looking fellow:  "A positive attitude generates energy and adrenaline and fights off disease and counters stress...  So, as much as is possible, honourable Senators, take stress out of your life."  His advice to his Senate peers may have made him feel superior, but he must have forgotten his own advice when he strode off in a direction certain to add stress to his life.

His impetuous young wife, with a masterful vocabulary highlighting rank profanities, appears to use shrill-voiced threats and public theatrics as a way to manipulate her biddable husband, anxious to please his young bride.  Does it represent an intrusion where none is desired to wonder whether this marriage will survive long past its first anniversary?

Privacy is a prize ill deserved under certain circumstances, such as the public airing of personal disagreements, more's the pity.  This elderly man's sense of discretionary fitness and personal choices in his intimate family life gives the public the sense that the Chamber of Sober Second Thought lacks inspiration for those inhabiting it.