Well, I said it because it's how I would, and have felt. It can be scary and feel like a breach of trust when you discover someone so far beyond your age group had ulterior motives for being nice to you. It wasnt said to make you feel better, but to try to help you see things from her side. It's not like this is a new experience for you, you have a pattern of falling for young women. You need to break the pattern if you want to stop feeling this way.

You seem to keep thinking that this perception won't apply to you, that somehow no one will notice the age difference - even though it is the first thing people learn about someone else! If you could keep that in mind when meeting women it would make it easier to not get attached and misread everything they say or do.

What do you do that could put you in the vicinity of women who would see you as a viable mate? You can still have a passionate relationship, and it could even be meaningful, just with someone in your life stage.