A couple with a 32-year age gap have tied the knot – after meeting through Twitter and falling in love while living 4,207 miles apart.
Heather McGreachy-Irwin, 36, and her wife, Sue, 68, bonded over their love of Star Trek despite being on opposite sides of the Atlantic.
The pair started messaging on Twitter and, after just two weeks, decided to video chat on Zoom – where they instantly hit it off.
Due to the pandemic, they couldn’t meet in person for a year, until Sue – originally from Florida, US – flew to London to see Heather.
They spent the next 20 months traveling back and forth, realizing their feelings for each other – despite both only having dated men before.
After coming out to their families, they eloped in a small Central Park ceremony in May 2023. The following month, Sue moved to the UK permanently.
The couple says their relationship has been “life-changing” and they hope to celebrate their marriage with family and friends in the future.
Sue, a retired project manager from Orlando, Florida, said: “The initial connection was because we were both huge Star Trek fans.
“I had recently won a competition to have a Zoom chat with Kate Mulgrew, and I was talking about it on Twitter.
“Heather saw it, responded, and that was how we connected.
“I think we both knew very early on that we had deep feelings for each other.
“We were both closeted at the time, but we reached the conclusion that we wanted to make the changes in our lives to be out.”
Heather, a mental health nurse from Luton, Bedfordshire, had only dated men when she met Sue on Twitter in December 2020.
Sue, who had been married for 36 years and has a daughter, also came out after meeting Heather.
The pair jumped on a Zoom call just two weeks after first talking and ended up chatting for hours – but couldn’t meet in person for another year.
It wasn’t until November 2021, when they finally met in London, that they realized they had a connection – and were gay.
“Sue had booked to go to a Star Trek convention in London,” Heather said.
“She came for a week, and the convention was at the end of that week.
“Sue is a photographer, so I took her to places where she could get good pictures.
“We went to Buckingham Palace and all the typical sites.”
After Sue returned to Florida, the couple spent the next 20 months flying back and forth across the Atlantic.
In October 2022, they finally came out to their families and friends.
“The toughest thing for me was coming out – I was terrified to tell my daughter,” Sue said.
“But when I told her I was gay, she looked at me and said, ‘Mom, I always knew you were.’
“It made me realize it was time to make the changes in our lives to be out.”
Heather also found coming out difficult:
“It was tricky for me – my family and friends had only ever known me dating men.
“I told my parents separately. I was a little more nervous about telling my dad.
“He said he already knew what was going on between us but asked why I didn’t tell him sooner.”
The couple took a trip to New York City in December 2022 to make their relationship official.
“It was on that trip that I proposed to Heather,” Sue said.
“We were at Summit One Vanderbilt, which is all glass, and it was nighttime in the city – it was beautiful.
“I found a quiet corner in the very busy room and proposed.”
Instead of having a big wedding, they decided to elope in Central Park in May 2023, with only two close friends as witnesses.
“The wedding itself was very small – we didn’t invite any family,” Heather said.
“We had spent so much time apart and accommodating other people, we didn’t want to worry about the logistics of getting everyone there.
“We wanted the wedding to be just about us – and it was a great day.”
In July 2023, Sue moved across the Atlantic to be with Heather in the UK.
“The biggest adjustment was moving from the ‘Sunshine State’ to rainy England,” Sue joked.
She had just retired and was looking forward to traveling in retirement.
“Flying to Europe and other destinations was much more expensive from Florida than from London, which was a big factor for me.
“Plus, the idea of living abroad had always been appealing to me.
“Heather has a six-year-old daughter and a career in mental health nursing, so it made more sense for me to move than for her.”
The couple says their age gap doesn’t impact their relationship or draw negative reactions from others.
Although Sue has occasionally been mistaken for Heather’s mom, they don’t mind explaining their relationship.
“Nobody has had an issue with it – even though it’s a pretty big age gap,” Heather said.
“When we first realized there was something between us, Sue was concerned about the gap.
“But I compared it to the age gap of Holland Taylor and Sarah Paulson.
“We know we have a time limit, and one day I’ll be on my own. But we both want to have whatever time we can together and make the most of it.”
