RAYNALDO, 61, from Illinois, USA, met his partner Ronyea Keyaira, 27, online. He noticed a comment posted by the freelance model and artist about her attraction to mature men. Raynaldo explained: “Ronyea’s profile said that she liked older guys, and I’m like well shoot your shot, dude. She’s real pretty.” They struck up a friendship and relationship, clicking on their first date. “We found out that we really connected with family, I’m big with family. He already has a family with kids,” Ronyea said. Despite their happiness, the pair have received judgement in-person and most notably online for their 34-year age gap. Raynaldo told Truly: “They mostly attack like our date night pictures. It’s clear from the pictures that we have a good, solid, fundamental relationship. For a lot of people, it’s like, oh well I have to hate on that, I can’t accept that.” Trolls also comment on the fact that their relationship is interracial, “we get a lot of people upset that we didn’t choose within our race. People were saying that I am a bed wench,” Ronyea said. “That I’m a gold digger, that I’m such a disgrace because I chose an older white man. They say I’m only with him for his money.” Whereas for Raynaldo “trolls say that I’m with her only for her looks,” he explained. These kinds of comments can sometimes get to Ronyea. Still, she is “trying to realise that everybody’s going to have an opinion about something, you can’t help it.”
