My father had two cousins who wound up getting married in their early 50's. They both had previous marriages they'd left behind (or had been widowed from, as was the case in one of the marriages), and both had adult children who were out on their own.

When their relationship first became public they faced a lot (and I mean a lot) of judgmental opinions not just from the rest of the family, but also from their friends. They received angry phone calls, were the subject of mockery, shunned or criticized at family get togethers, and finally were essentially cast out of the family when they announced they were getting married. I don't think anyone from my father's family went to their wedding. Even some of the children from the previous marriages pushed away over it.

It's been a few years since all that took place, and the two of them are still together. From what I last heard they seemed happier than they had been in their previous marriages, and all but one of the children who had cut them off had repaired their relationship with them.

My point in bringing up their story is illustrate that while romantic feelings of those type may be considered to be inappropriate by many people, doesn't necessarily mean that it can never work. Obviously there are some boundaries that people do need to observe - specifically legal or ethical ones. But if the only obstacle is fear of judgement from others, like growing up in a racist family and winding up falling for someone of a different ethnicity, or like the story I mentioned above, than I don't think those feelings need to be dealt with any differently than "appropriate" feelings.