A 48-year-old lawyer, Mart Soeson has declared that he has fallen head over heels with the widow of his grandfather who is 103 years old and who will celebrate her 104th year on earth later this month.
Goes on said he has been in a relationship with the old woman, Elfriede Riit, since 2013 after the death of his grandfather, Alfred, and they had been living together until she was forced to move into a nursing home in 2022.
According to the Daily Mail of UK, Riit, who was also born in Estonia, is the widow of Mr Soeson’s grandfather and was his second wife, just as Soeson was said to have insisted that their 55-year age gap is irrelevant and they should be allowed to continue their ‘exclusive committed long-term’ romance.
According to him: “What started out as a wholesome bond I had with my late grandfather’s widow slowly but surely turned into a very meaningful and loving relationship. There is no going back on our loving moments.”
However, according to the report, Mr Soeson is seeking to gain permanent Australian residency on the basis that Ms Riit is his partner but his visa application has been refused.
He was not formally told why that visa application was rejected but believed the Department of Home Affairs was suspicious about the legitimacy of his union with the woman and he has taken his case to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal which he attended on Wednesday with Ms Riit and three supporters to have the matter heard.
Mr Soeson described meeting Ms Riit in early 1996 when he came to Australia to study Advanced English as a great moment. Ms Riit knew Soeson as her late husband’s grandson and invited him to stay at her home in Sydney.
It was not love at first sight and ‘nothing happened overnight,’ according to Mr Soeson, but the pair soon became friends and that connection grew. Soeson returned to Estonia but came back to Australia on holidays in 2000 and 2007 to see Ms Riit, for whom by then he ‘cared greatly’ and ‘missed immensely.’
“During these two trips, my bond with Elfriede grew stronger, and when I returned to Estonia, I felt a sense of longing for Elfriede’s companionship,” he was quoted as saying
