{Note: Please read Broke Oak: Cousin Sarah Chapters 1 and 2 first for this to make the most sense. These stories are from my experiences and I have changed names and obscured some descriptions, but what you read is real.}
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My cousin Sarah called out of the blue. She wanted to come and visit during one of her mom's trips abroad. School was out (like her mom before her retirement, she teaches high school); her recent divorce was final and the dust settling; and, we had not seen each other in about 10 years.
Sarah had arrived and she and I had crossed that first hurdle of being nude in front of each other. In our younger days, we had been as close as siblings, but it had been years now since we had seen each other, and suddenly here we were, both over sixty, and we were nude with each other and walking around Broke Oak introducing her to friends and showing her the pool, showers, hot tub, social hall, etc.
After a couple more days, Sara's visit was near the half-way mark and she was totally comfortable. In fact, it got so normal that I went golfing one morning with Hank and a couple of the other guys, leaving Sarah on her own -- and all without any sense of fear for Sarah feeling awkward or abandoned.
After golfing, I came back to an anything-but-normal day. When we got out of Hank's Suburban next to the clubhouse, Sarah appeared worried, not frantic, but very concerned. I knew immediately that she needed to talk. So I grabbed my clubs and, with a totally naked cousin Sarah, headed back to my lot.
When we got inside, I looked at Sarah with an open and concerned feeling. Sarah spoke with a stumble to her speech. "Gus, Linda - I mean Mom, she's had me call her by her first name for thirty years now -- had problems with her trip."
Quickly, I interjected "Is she OK, has there been an accident, did she get sick?"
"No, no, nothing like that. Her plans were to fly to Miami, catch a cruise ship and take it to Aruba, then she was going to be two weeks at a resort, catch another cruise ship back to Miami and fly home."
"Yes," I responded, "what happened?"
"Well, she got to Aruba and the resort cancelled her stay, the ship was over booked, and so she had to fly out today -- at their expense and first class, of course." Sarah rolled her eyes at that last part.
"Well, why did they cancel her resort reservation? That doesn't sound like a good business decision. Do you have to go back to Phoenix to meet her? Wow! This is a real change of plans, heh?"
"Well, the cancelled her reservation because she is single and the resort just sold to new owners that laid down a strict couples-only rule. They are going to cater to only swingers and the company her reservation was with doesn't have any international liability for cancelations -- it is a damn mess!" Sarah paused, looking at me, so I waited for her to go on. "And I don't have to go to Phoenix, because . . . because, she decided to fly here. She didn't want to disrupt our visit by making me go back home early. Gus, what are we going to do, she's coming here -- she lands in about 4 hours!"
"Shit! Well, she's my favorite aunt, so I will love to see her. But what to do about the nudism -- I'm stumped. Maybe we pick her up at the airport and stop for a bite to eat. We simply level with her. We are in our fifties and sixties and she is about eighty, she can maybe handle it. If she says she is not comfortable, we can agree to stay around the house clothed or go on a textile trip around Texas here. What do you think?"
The relief on Sarah's countenance was palpable. "Oh, Gus, you'd do that? You're not angry? I just love you so much!" she said, as she hugged me in a squeeze that almost hurt.
We straightened up the house, got dressed and headed to do some shopping, and still make the airport a good hour away.
Aunt Linda's flight from Houston was actually almost ten minutes early and it truly was good to see her. We hugged, grabbed her luggage and trekked out to the car.
McCaulley's has some of the best lunches around, so we stopped and had an early supper. We got a booth with privacy and chatted as we waited for our meals.
"So, Aunt Linda, in all your travels, is this the first time you've had a resort cancel your reservation?" I asked.
"Well, yes, at least this close to arrival. The biggest pain in the ass about it was that this was my first trip to Aruba and I really wanted to enjoy it. And the same thing I told Sarah years ago, my name is Linda so quit with the 'Aunt' stuff." She smiled warmly to assure me that she meant to be Linda, not Aunt Linda.
We had agreed that I would 'break the news' to her, so I responded "Okay Linda, okay. We need to tell you something though and we want you to be absolutely assured that you can be open and honest with us about your wishes. The truth is that I live year-round in a nudist resort. I don't have anywhere else to take you. You are absolutely welcome at home, of course, but we want to assure you that we will wear clothes and we can hang around the house -- or, if you would be more comfortable, tomorrow we can head over to the gulf coast or up into the Hill Country and have a vacation within a vacation."
Sarah was worried, embarrassed, and holding her breath. I was a little anxious, but mostly for Sarah's comfort. And I did feel a bit of a heel for putting Linda on the spot, but this conversation had to happen.
Linda looked at me, paused and, quiet as a church mouse, looked at her daughter. I no longer felt like a bit of a heel, now I felt like a complete heel. Linda never said a thing for quite a while, until at last she ventured, "So you mean that your home is inside a nude resort and typically you don't wear clothes and the people outside don't either? And you, Sarah, have been running around naked with Gus and the others that live there?" And her eyes zeroed in directly on Sarah.
Sarah gulped and eased out the words "Yes that is right. I had never been a prude, but had not lived this way before." And with a tone of, not defiance, but resolution she added "And, Linda, it is nothing like folks imagine, it really is a wonderful way of living."