I agree that it sounds as though you are looking for your own asnwers. If it helps to hear what others have done, then that's good, too.

How long did you date your SO before deciding to become exclusive? Who initiated the exclusivity?

It was sort of a spontaneous, mutual, unspoken thing from the first night we went out.

How long did you go without communicating between dates before becoming exclusive?

see above

What is the age gap between you and your SO?

6 years, but I don't feel it has ever mattered. I once lived with a man 20 years my senior.

What traits did you not like about your SO but felt were worth overlooking?

Then? None!:-)

Do you think you'd be happier single?

No, but I do think we'd be happier, sometimes, with more time apart or two houses. I once read about a couple, both writers, much different ways of keeping house, writing, etc. They kept their marriage alive and happy by living in a two-apartment house.

We will be celebrating out 23rd this March, which means we have lived together for 24 years. There are definitely things i'd change about him, now, but I realise that is something he has to want and do, so I try to overlook them, most of the time. A good relationship, imo, is well-balanced by compromise. Oh, and I am SURE he'd like a few things different about me, too, but he manages to overlook them and still make me feel loved.:-)

Good luck to you.

kat