Lydia Benson's head pounded, stomach groaned and feet throbbed as she eased her 1999 Beamer into her brand new 3 car garage. Switching the engine off as she clicked the garage door closed behind her, Lydia slowly accepted the dreams of grandeur she had fixated over in her 20's of marrying a rich doctor and leading a life of nonstop traveling, shopping and 3pm dates for tea with her friends were now just naive delusions of youth.
She had married a doctor, a damn good one in fact. Her husband, Jefferey, was one of the most respected Vascular surgeons in the state of Maryland, but with that came a lot of other headaches. Unfortunately, Lydia loved her husband and the fact that she could count the number of weekends they had actually spent together over 18 years of marriage on her two hands, caused her a great deal of frustration and detachment.
Jefferey Benson had succeeded at everything he had every tried in life. Marrying the homecoming queen, becoming a well respected surgeon and providing enough security that his family would never have problems sleeping tight at night.
For Lydia however, the daughter of working class parents, she could never quite get use to the sedentary life expected of most rich housewives. She had gotten her degree in Public Administration while Jefferey was immersed in Medical School and had worked with countless dozens of charities while her husband ascended the heights of his chosen profession.
No matter how good a life of endless shopping sprees and afternoon gab sessions sounded, the reality was that Lydia Benson felt more vital and important helping others. Even though she didn't need to do it, she wanted to. While her husband was busy saving lives, she took great pride in making the lives of those who were alive, just a little better.
On days like today however, Lydia thought to herself that she would much rather be at the beauty salon trading gossip with the girls than dying to get in the house to soak her throbbing feet.
An 8am church breakfast followed by an 11am progress speech to the Baltimore Chapter of the United Way, then an appearance at a local charity golf tournament and finally a 2 hour session for her husband doing fundraising for the American Heart Association had left Lydia Benson longing, at least temporarily, for the life of a spoiled doctor's wife.
Slumping into the house with her purse around her shoulder, a heavy bag of groceries in one arm and her two briefcases in the other, Lydia dropped everything with a thud on the kitchen counter, kicked off her painful heels, grabbed the mail the maid had left on the end table and headed upstairs for a long, hot bath.
* * * * *
Comfortably dipped deep down in the antique gold-rimmed tub full of bubbles, Lydia lazily thumbed through some of the accumulated mail. The first thing to catch her eye was a travel brochure with several pictures of glorious Hawaiian sunsets and images of newlyweds having breakfast in Paris.
"God, I could use a vacation," Lydia moaned dejectedly, enjoying the feeling of the hot oily water soaking her tired bones.
Lost in the myriad of junk mail and bills, a postcard sized letter caught the bathing woman's attention. Flipping it over, Lydia's eyebrows arched when she saw the handwritten University of Maryland-Baltimore County return address in the corner.
"What's this," Lydia whispered, trying to think of anyone the family knew who was going to UMBC.
Curious, even a little nervous about its content, Lydia dropped the other pieces of mail on the floor beside the tub and opened the small letter addressed to the Benson family...
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Benson,
You don't know me, but your family has had a profound effect on my life. Several years ago, while I was a child growing up in Kenya, my family was supported by donations given to us by our church.
After some research, I found that my church back home and yours here in Maryland are connected. I wanted to pay your family a special 'thank you' for donating the money, food and clothing that literally helped save my family's life. Your donations also enabled me to keep attending school and by the grace of God, helped me secure a scholarship to an American university.
I am currently enrolled at UMBC and I felt it neccessary to share my gratitude for playing no small role in my opportunity to have a better life for myself and for my family.
God Bless You,
Kwame Noel
A warm feeling of accomplishment filled Lydia Benson as she read and re-read the lovely show of appreciation. The stresses and frustrations of her busy day quickly drifted away as the realization that the charity work she and her husband did actually made a difference in real peoples' lives. The long hours of pressing the flesh and enduring rubber chicken dinners wasn't what it was all about, it was about the people that the money they raised helped. And in the letter in her hands, at that moment, Lydia held the currency of that success.
Lydia simply couldn't wait to show Jefferey the letter the first chance she got to show him that her time really wasn't being wasted, that she really was vital.
Glowing outwardly, Lydia pulled herself out of the tub, feeling as good about herself as she had in months. Drying her body off with one of the large thick white towels hanging beside the tub, Lydia couldn't help but playfully look at the fogged up mirror on the wall.
Wipping the condensation away with her towel, Lydia could see that the warm water and luxurious bubbles had left her petite body glistening as if it had been polished from head to toe.
"You look 10 years younger than you did an hour ago," the 41 year old woman thought to herself as she dried off.
Easing up to the sink, Lydia grabbed a brush and started gently combing out her sexily matted dark blonde hair until it rested in a long straight mane down to her bare shoulders.
Gracefully cupping her breasts with the towel to dry them off, Lydia couldn't help but notice how her nipples had hardened as she watched herself in the mirror.
Making an internal note to thank Jefferey for the tanning bed he had bought for the house, Lydia surveyed every inch of her richly golden body, satisfied that she didn't have a single tan line anywhere on her five foot two frame.
Lost in her silly fixation over her body and her rare indulgence in bursting self esteem, Lydia was a little shocked to hear her husband call to her from downstairs.
"What's he doing home already?" Lydia asked to herself in the mirror, the countless possibilities of what the night could hold riffling through her empowered psyche.
Feeling frisky, Lydia reached for her thigh length terrycloth robe and dabbed on some makeup as she conjured up mentally what special dinner she could fix for Jefferey and what special dessert she could create as well.
Checking her appearance one last time, Lydia opened the bathroom door, allowing the steam trapped inside to billow out seductively behind her as she descended to spiral staircase to greet her husband.
"Hi Jefferey," Lydia purred slyly as she walked into the living room where her husband was briskly gathering some paperwork.
Slinking up behind her busy husband, Lydia wrapped her thin arms around his belly and kissed him on the back of the neck.
"Hi Honey," Lydia sighed. "Glad you're home early..I thought I'd make us a special dinner... maybe you can go downstairs and pick out a bottle of wine from the cellar. Just a nice quiet night..just you and me..how about it?"
"Sounds great Honey..I'd love to," Jefferey replied back to his wife, loving the way her wet lips and clean body felt against his. "But..the reason I'm home so early is that I've got to catch a flight to Cleveland."
"Huh... Cleveland," Lydia moaned, thinking she didn't hear her husband right.
"Yeah... I'm sorry Baby. A couple of the doctors from John Hopkins are going to assist with a transplant surgery tomorrow," Jefferey relied, genuinely sad he was leaving his wife in a lurch but also showing positive joy in the opportunity to reach a pinnacle in his career. "This is going to make national news..the hospital said CNN will have a few of the doctors on tomorrow after the surgery. Isn't that great!!"
Lydia felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach. While she was extremely pleased for her husband to be getting this type of national acclaim, she couldn't help feeling a little selfish in her disappointment that her perfect night alone with Jefferey was ruined.
The situation now changed, Lydia didn't even feel it was the right time or place to share the exquisitely touching letter from the African boy that had wrote to say how much he appreciated the Bensons' help through the church. It almost seemed anti-climatic to share that after her husband groundbreaking transplant news and a potential spot on Larry King.
"Well Honey..that's... fantastic," Lydia added with as much fake vigor as she could. "Besides..we can have dinner anytime and it will give me a chance to brag to all my friends that my husband is on national TV. Let me go upstairs and get a couple of days worth of clothes together for you... How many days should I pack for?"
"I'll probably be gone at least four days, but here's the cool part Honey," Jefferey started, "the hospital is paying my whole way and since it's such a special occasion, they are springing for everyone's family as well."
Lydia's eyes immediately brightened as the opportunity to get away for a while was offered to her on a silver platter.
"I'm so backed up right now though, Jefferey," Lydia huffed disappointedly, pointing to the two large briefcases full of work waiting on the sofa. "Maybe I can join you there on Friday... but right now I just have too many commitments to take care of."
* * * * *
As Lydia finished packing a few things for her husband, she came across the slightly wet letter that the young man from Kenya had sent. Lydia instantly felt the urge to read its contents again, its simple words again soothing her and making her feel valued. Lydia quickly put the letter down and covered it with a towel however, when Jefferey burst into the bathroom to collect a few toiletries for the trip.
