INTRODUCTION & DISCLAIMER - In 1999, overweight but pretty Abbey Rosen from Toronto takes a vacation to South Africa for a safari. This horrifies her very traditional Jewish mother, who firmly believes that Abbey should be looking for the right man to marry and start a family with rather than jetting off on vacation and into the dangers of the African bush. Abbey stands her ground despite her mother's many attempts to guilt her out of the trip and is rewarded when she meets David, a handsome and charming young black guy who works as a tour guide and has quite a liking for fat white girls. Abbey's virginity - still intact at the age of 25 - probably won't be returning to Canada with her.
All characters and situations in this story are fictional, with any similarity to real persons living or dead coincidental and unintentional. Only characters over the age of 18 engage in sexual activity. Please enjoy your trip back to 1999 and 'Virginity Lost on Vacation'.
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From the time I emerged into the world in 1974, I was always the 'fat girl'. This was the case at the Toronto elementary, junior high and high schools I attended, at Jewish classes I attended after school, at our synagogue, in the neighborhood, at college, at work and even at home. My mother Esther and my father Tom were always slim, and my older sister Hannah and younger sister Rebecca likewise also slim. None of my grandparents were overweight, nor any of my aunts, uncles and cousins save for my father's youngest sister, and this was only when she got married, started having kids and took the adage of eating for two a little too literally. Prior to this my aunt was slim. Me, I was overweight through childhood, my teenage years and as a young adult. By the time I reached the age of 25 in the spring of 1999, I weighed 90 kilograms -- 198 pounds for our friends south of the Canadian border who haven't converted to metric -- and when barefoot stood at just 160 centimeters in height. Again, for those who don't use metric, that is five feet two inches tall.
Some fat kids have a few problems growing up. They get teased and bullied because of their weight, withdraw into themselves or sometimes become bullies themselves. Not me. From my earliest years, I always had an outgoing, bubbly personality and always saw the positives in things. I always had lots of friends both Jewish and non-Jewish, and an active social life. I was always a chatty sort of girl and I almost always felt happy when I woke up in the morning, whether this be a cold, snowy day in the middle of the Canadian winter, a sunny summer's day with the sun shining brightly over Lake Ontario, or a mild day in the spring or fall.
When I found out my height and weight and subsequent BMI of 35 courtesy of my doctor making me stand on the much-feared scales in his office, barefoot and dressed in my white D-cup bra and my white, full-brief panties I saw the positive -- at least I was still less than 200 pounds. Even when the doctor was giving me one of his lectures about healthy eating and required weight loss, I tuned out thinking of this positive rather than his stern directive of "Abbey Rosen -- you must lose weight."
I never let my weight bother me, and never allowed it to impede me or how I dress. I never let the fact that I was overweight stop me from wearing short skirts and dresses, long figure-hugging skirts and dresses, leggings, shorts and even a bikini. Okay, maybe the bikini was that one step too far for a young woman of my figure, but hey, being from Toronto it's not like I would wear it every day. Well I guess I could have, but in the middle of winter I doubt even my body so well insulated by blubber could have survived hypothermia. And believe it or not -- my doctor did not -- I actually did aerobics at the gym. I admit I was more like a small elephant to the other girls' slim flamingo or muscular lioness physiques, but I did try and always had fun.
At times I had tried to lose weight but my love of ice-cream, cakes, cookies, doughnuts, muffins, waffles, potato chips and French fries always bit me on my considerable ass and it was back to square one. And when it was that time of the month, keeping myself away from chocolate was mission impossible. At least being a Jewish girl I never had any kilojoule (or calorie) laden meats such as bacon, ham or salami, or deep-fried seafood. Had I not been Jewish and eaten such treats, I would probably have weighed close to 300 pounds. However, if it wasn't myself bringing my diets undone, my relationship with my mother played a significant role in keeping my weight on.
My mother and I always loved each other very much, but she often tended to be critical of me and frequently said, "Abbey, you would be as pretty as your sisters if you would only lose some weight." True, Hannah, Rebecca and I always looked similar facially, with the same long dark brown hair and brown eyes, but while I thought my thinner sisters were attractive, I never believed it about myself. However, one day when I was in college I walked by a construction site and overheard what some of the guys were saying about me.
One guy said, "She's pretty, but it's a shame she's so fat," and his friend said, "Yeah, she's about the best looking fat girl I've ever seen." A third man offered, "I wouldn't mind kissing that fat ass of hers, but it would take me all night." I was too amazed that the guys thought me pretty despite my weight problem to be offended, but then I was never one to easily take offense. One time, I got onto the crowded train and a guy jumped up, saying that a girl in my condition needed a seat more than he did. I thought it better to smile and thank at him before sitting down, rather than say that I was not pregnant and make him feel bad.
Mom, when not reminding me that I needed to lose weight, would take offense at my refusal of her food when I visited her and Dad for a family get-together. One time, I refused a second piece of her baked cheesecake for the simple reason that I was full, and she became all huffy and turned on the guilt, saying she had worked so hard on making it, and that she wouldn't have wasted her day preparing food that I wasn't going to eat. So of course, I ended up having another large slice, with double-thick cream and chocolate sauce, and at Mom's insistence took the rest of the leftover cheesecake home to eat at my leisure. It lasted as long as breakfast the next morning.
If I had submitted a movie comedy screen-play, sitcom pilot or novel about my family to a production company or publisher, my rejection letter might have read something like, "Dear Miss Rosen, while your ideas have potential, we feel that the mother character was a little too much of a Jewish Mother stereotype and therefore we regret to inform you that your submission was unsuccessful." However, one meeting with my mother and they would have seen that Mom definitely corresponded to the Jewish mother stereotype, and then some.