It all started when my younger brother, John Edwards, died. He had given my wife a ride to see her dentist when the accident happened. It wasn't John's fault. He had the green light, it looked safe to enter the intersection, but it wasn't. A semi coming down the hill into town had lost its breaks. It was carrying a load of granite blocks. There was nothing the driver could do. It was over probably before my brother or wife knew that there was a problem. It turned out that the truck had just had break maintenance and one of the fittings was flawed. It fractured, leaving momentum in charge.
My brother and I (George) were often mistaken for twins. Our ethnicity was mainly Scotch-Irish with a bit of Norwegian.
After the funerals I found out that my brother had left me some of his most valuable collections. One, his collection of historic firearms; and two, his collection of cameras. Little did I know how much the camera collection would change my life.
Some of you who have lost close relatives know the uneasy feeling you have going through your relatives most precious things. You feel a bit like a ghoul. It is an unsettling feeling.
For those of you who aren't old enough to remember film cameras, the film must be sent to a place to have the latent prints turned into negatives and/or prints. It is a somewhat fussy chemical process. My brother shot many things using digital cameras, but he was very fond of film cameras. He enjoyed using older cameras where all of the exposure control was done by the photographer. It's a lot more work than using a "point and shoot" but it is more rewarding in the end. Just consider that the typical 35mm slide would be at least the equivalent of a 35 Megapixel sensor. The resolution can be breathtaking.
Remember that at this time I was suffering the loss of my brother, the closest friend I had (except for my wife). On top of that I was suffering the loss of my wife of thirty-two years. My sister-in-law was suffering almost the mirror image of my loss. My wife and Amy had been best friends.
Five of John's cameras had film in them. Obviously I wanted to get them developed. For normal development I use Clark film processing. However, my brother's work was usually of a very high quality. Two months after the funeral I sent the film to a professional photo finishing outfit. It was fortunate that I did.
I was feeling exceptionally down on the Friday that the package of negatives and prints arrived. After a meal and a seven and seven (Segram's Seven and Seven Up) I sat down to look at the pictures. I only got to the pictures from the second camera. I had been sexually frustrated for two months now and the pictures threw me over the edge. I had to hit the bathroom and relieve my tensions.
To understand the following I need to describe my sister-in-law. She had a beautiful body, a killer smile, a wonderful personality and was (in my opinion) one of the sexiest women I had ever seen in my life. I am not excluding Playboy centerfolds from that list. She is that attractive.
My brother had taken thirty some, beautifully posed, nude pictures of Amy. The first pictures were simple classical nude poses. Toward the end the pictures were much more explicit. I had never seen my sister-in-law without clothes before. She was stunning! Amy has a beautiful mocha skin tone, pitch black hair, and a killer smile. She also has beautiful breasts that are the perfect size for her frame. They are either a hefty B cup or perhaps a smallish C cup. They have large areolae that are light chocolate in color: Stunning, absolutely stunning! Toward the end of the roll John had joined Amy on the bed and they had been doing an intense sixty-nine. He must have used the self timer. Wow, I needed to go to the bathroom to take care of the frustration again.
I knew that I needed to keep the pictures private. But I also knew that Amy would probably want them. In the morning I phoned Amy and asked her if she would join me for dinner that evening. She immediately said yes. I told her that it was strictly casual dress.
The following late afternoon Amy showed up at my door. As soon as she was there I put the T-bones on the grill, added the dressing to the Caesar salad, and broke out two bottles of good lager beer. It only took about ten minutes for the steaks to be ready.
We said grace and enjoyed a good meal. It was so nice to have someone to talk to. I had forgotten how much I missed simple conversation.
After desert, New York style cheesecake and coffee, I started the needed conversation.
"Amy, as you know, John left me his cameras. Several of them had film in them. I had the film developed so that we would have the pictures; just in case they had things we wanted preserved. I thought you should see some of them. Are you game?"
