This is Part 1 of a 3 Part Story. Although I have had similar experiences, the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents used in this series are either the products of my imagination or used in a fictitious manner. The physical descriptions and occupations are purely fiction. Any resemblance to any real persons, living or dead, or any real place or actual events is simply coincidental.
Day 1 contains much of the back story and set up. It will help you understand the people and the setting. If you are all about the sex, you can skip to Day 2, but I am hopeful that readers will find the whole story interesting.
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It has been over 2 years now since my father-in-law passed. It was not unexpected, but it was difficult for my wife, Terri, and her mother, Ruth. It was particularly difficult for my mother-in-law as she was left as a widow all alone in a large house. While Ruth and my father-in-law had made friends in their neighborhood, most of their friends were couple friends. Every day, she was feeling more isolated and lonely. After much discussion and thought, my mother-in-law decided to sell the house and move to a retirement community, The Residences, in Orlando, Florida. She had heard many good things about the community, and had visited a number of times before she finally bought her new house. Ruth purchased a house in a "middle of the road" portion of The Residences, but she had access to all of its various communities and golf courses. For someone like my mother-in-law, The Residences is an amusement park for the retired.
While Terri had visited her mother on several occasions, I had avoided making the trip. Ruth and I did not necessarily dislike each other; however, I would not say we are close. Over the 25 years I have been married to her daughter, Ruth and I developed a passive indifference to each other. I found that our relationship is best kept at a distance, and any in-person visitation was kept to a minimum. My ability to avoid visiting my mother-in-law was getting more difficult with each trip Terri took. During her trips to The Residences, Terri would send me pictures of the community and tell me how wonderful she thought it was. She would often tell me how she would like us to move there once we retired from our professions. From the pictures I received, the place looked beautiful, and it had so many activities to offer, including all the golf you could ever want to play. When Terri returned from her last trip, I knew that there would be no way I would be able to put it off any longer. So, the following June I flew to Florida with my wife to visit Ruth.
Day 1.
Ruth picked us up at the Orlando airport. She was thrilled to see her daughter again, and did not seem to mind that I was there as well. After the perfunctory hug Ruth and I always gave each other, the three of us headed to baggage claim. While waiting for our bags to arrive, Ruth explained to me that she had made several new friends, and that she had set up a dinner for us to meet a few of them that evening. Terri smiled at the news having met Ruth's friends before. Ruth also told Terri that she had been putting off shopping for a few furniture items until Terri could help her. They both assured me that I would not be required to go furniture shopping, and that I would have a few days to play golf, lounge around the pool or simply take it easy doing nothing. Feeling that I was wasting a perfectly good vacation, I smiled my best smile and went to retrieve our luggage.
The trip from the airport took just over an hour, all of which was spent filling me in on all the things that The Residences had to offer: pools, country clubs, restaurants, movie theaters, and golf courses. The community is divided into town squares, each with its own dining and shopping area. The primary mode of transportation is by golf carts, but not your normal golf carts. Most are tricked out and contain many comforts of a car. While there is a fairly active nightlife, including live music every night, most things are shut down by 9:00 each night. I have to admit, the more I learned about the place, the more I thought I could make myself enjoy the time. The community had a minimum age limit of 55, with the average age of the residents being in their early to middle 60s. Having recently turned 50, I felt like a youngster. I work hard at staying in shape, working out, running and swimming 4-5 days a week. I am 5'11" and weigh 180 pounds. I do not have a six-pack, but I don't have a beer gut or love handles either. I still have most of my hair, which has remained a light shade of brown, with maybe a hint of grey here and there.
As I listened to Ruth and Terri talk about her new friends, my hesitations began to dwindle and my interest was definitely piqued. That evening we were having dinner with Mary, Joyce and Kathy. Mary and Joyce were both single. Mary's husband died two years earlier, and Joyce had been divorced for over three years. Apparently, Joyce's husband of almost 35 years left her for a much younger woman. Kathy was married to Bill, but Bill was never around. He spent his days on the golf course and his nights out with his friends drinking and playing cards. The rumors on the street were that Bill had a few ladies on the side, something that is not unusual in this community.
Ruth had met Mary and Joyce at a dance class that she took every other Thursday night. I could not help but smile when Ruth told us that Mary is a former Las Vegas showgirl and Joyce was once a college cheerleader. Ruth said that both of the women had "aged well" and that they were highly sought after by many of the men. Ruth said that Kathy was also very attractive, but always seemed sad. Kathy and Joyce were close, so Joyce would often ask Kathy to join them whenever they went out. Ruth told me not to worry, that although I would be the only man at the table, Joyce and Mary told her they would make sure I was included in the conversation. I did not tell Ruth or my wife that I was not worried, but that I was actually looking forward to being the only man at a table of women, especially after the descriptions Ruth had given me.
