My name is Jenny Blithe. At the time of writing I am in my mid fifties. I have been married once, to Tom, who died in a skiing accident about five years after we got married. I have had two lovers since then, but neither of them worked out, the first turning out to be a lout, and the second a foul-mouthed pig. After that I gave up and contented myself with a dildo.
My main activity in life is my painting and craftwork, which is carried out in the "Workshop", which is a large room attached to the back of the house. I have a number of outlets for my work that bring in enough money for me to live on in reasonable comfort.
I was about thirty-four when Madge and Ben moved in next door with their two-year-old child, Alan.
I got to know Madge fairly quickly through chatting over the back fence, then joining her occasionally for morning coffee. Along with her, I also got to know Alan a rather sweet child, who tended to sit staring at me rather intently when I visited.
One day, when Alan was about three, he found his way to my workshop, and finding the door partially open he came in.
I was working on a painting at the time and didn't hear him arrive, so it was only when I turned away from the painting I saw him. It gave me quite a jolt. He was staring again, but this time dividing his interest between the painting and me.
Not sure how to proceed I asked him, "Do you like the painting?" He nodded and said nothing.
Being concerned about how Madge might be worried, I called over the back fence. She came running and I told her that I had Alan with me.
"Thank God," she said, "I just turned my back for a minute and he was gone. I've been hunting everywhere for him."
Alan was duly restored to his mother, but from then on he became a regular visitor to my workshop. He was fascinated by the great variety of materials, machinery and equipment I had, and I had to keep a sharp eye on him around the bandsaw and wood lathe. He was, however, mostly content to watch me at my work, and most especially when I was painting. Somehow, his presence managed to assuage the loneliness I sometimes felt.
He gradually became more talkative, and when he was about four years old, he paid me what I suppose he thought to be the supreme compliment.
"I love you Auntie Jenny, you're nearly as pretty as my mummy."
Realising that the compliment of a child is the sincerest you can get, I thanked him for his unsolicited tribute, smiled, and decided to reciprocate. "I love you too, and I think you a very nice boy." The truth was, I had got to love Alan. Perhaps I saw him as the child that I had never had with my beloved Tom. Whatever the case, I looked forward increasingly to his visits.
Alan went to kindergarten and soon after he began, he turned up carrying a roll of butcher's paper.
"I paint pictures too. I gave one to mummy but I did this for you."
He offered me the paper that had washed across in wild abandon a water paint picture of what Alan said was a dog. I kissed his cheek, thanked him, and pinned it on the wall. It hangs there faded to this day. The first gift of love from a child.
When Alan went to primary school his paintings arrived in my workshop with increasing frequency, until one day he announced that he had to do a painting to take to school the next day, and could he come and do it with me?
I agreed and found an old easel to use. To have a "real thing" to do his painting on was a great thrill for him, so I stood him on a wooden box and let him get on with it.
From then on he always did his painting with me, often asking me, "How do you do this."
One day, when Alan was eight and on vacation from school, I had forgotten this, and was working with a large mirror on a nude self-portrait.
Surveying myself, I saw a figure, five feet seven tall, long blonde hair, dark brown eyes, longish nose, and wide mouth with rounded chin and a rather swanlike neck. My breasts (38C), had been Tom's most delicious delight, and from being embarrassed by their size in my teenage years, he taught me to love and enjoy them.
Waist a little on the plump side, pubic hair a nice little triangle which barely hides my vagina. I believe my vaginal opening is a little more forward than most women's are, and Tom got further delight from this because he could get that extra inch into me. And finally, legs long and strong and they had frequently wrapped around Tom's buttocks to drag him deeper into me.
As I contemplated myself in the mirror, and tried to paint what I saw, the door opened and Alan came in. He gave me the briefest of glances then focused his attention on the painting.
"That's a rude painting, " he announced.
I had grabbed a smock to cover myself with, and rather flustered I tried to deliver a lecture on the beauty of the human body with, I fear, no great success.